73 Million Mobile Users in the Philippines by 2010

(Business News & Technology News, 13 Oct 2008)

Mobile service users in the Philippines are expected to grow at an annual growth rate of 15 percent to reach 73 million by 2010, according to the latest report entitled "Philippines Mobile Market Overview & 2007-2010 Forecast" by analyst firm Research on Asia. The rapid expansion of the mobile market will be possible as the two leaders in the market, Smart Communications and Globe Telecom, are improving the service quality to win the competition, and mobile broadband market is projected to expand rapidly due to the slow spread of fixed-line telephony.

In addition, more and more people want to use contents in English via the mobile internet as most Filipinos are familiar with using English, says Steve Lee, Chief Consultant at ROA Group.

In the Philippines, like Indonesia, mobile communications, SMS text messaging in particular, is growing faster than fixed-line telephony because of the country's geographical features. As of now, 55 million, or about 60 percent of the population, have subscribed to mobile services. Another unique characteristic of the Philippines' mobile market is that there are many services available for overseas Filipino workers as the country's economy relies heavily on their remittance. As the key customer base, they are continuously contributing to the improvement in the communications revenue. Furthermore, enhanced roaming and remittance services for the overseas Filipino workers will be introduced in the future.

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