Data drives Globe’s Q1 service income

INCREASED consumption of data-related products boosted Globe Telecom’s consolidated service revenues by 6.75 percent to P33.2 billion in the first quarter of 2018 from P31.1 billion a year ago.

In a statement on Friday, the Ayala-led telecommunications company said its mobile revenues rose by 7 percent to P25.5 billion from P23.8 billion last year. Mobile data accounted for 48 percent of the profit.

Data traffic surged by 37 percent to 180 petabytes from 131 petabytes in 2017.

These figures came after Globe reported earlier this week that its net income increased by 27 percent to P4.7 billion and corporate data business profit reached P2.6 billion in the quarter. Capital spending hit P6.6 billion at end-March.

Consumers’ shift to digital lifestyle fueled the demand for data, according to Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu said.

“From standard messaging, they are now spending more time on their devices connecting through social media, downloading mobile apps, playing video games, and viewing more content,” he said.

“We are confident that consumers’ appetite for data will continue to grow in the future,” he added.

Globe expects smartphone penetration in the country to continue expanding, and projects 70-percent growth this year from 40 percent in 2015.

The company is optimistic of hitting its target to deploy long-term evolution (LTE) technology across the country by the end of 2018.