Cebu to have 4G network by year’s end — Globe CEO

Makati City—The high-speed 4G or 4th-generation wireless network will be available in Cebu before the end of the year, said  Peter Bithos, Globe vice president for consumer business, following  yesterday’s Globe annual stockholders meeting here.

This means mobile Internet speed three times faster than the current 3G network in Cebu.

Globe anticipates more demand for smartphones that require a 4G network especially for newer phone  models that have also become more affordable.

“We won’t be telling you something that  isn’t true . . . right now it isn’t 4G. But we expect 4G in the next two quarters of this year,” Bithos said in a press briefing.

Upgrading to 4G network for the entire country is  Globe’s main program this year as announced during the stockholders meeting at the Intercontinental Hotel.
This will be done without having to pass on the cost to consumers, said Ernest Cu, president and CEO.

Cu said he is confident that Globe will maintain its  2011 level of performance amidst a two-player market with PLDT’s acquisition of Digitel-Sun Cellular in October last year.

Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Globe’s chairman of the board,  agreed saying  “the balance sheet remains strong, and we are able to support funding needs of network modernization.”

Globe registered  11 percent growth in its  “core net income” of P10 billion last year.

Ayala said the growth showed mostly mobile browsing revenues that present a “major growth opportunity for the industry.”

Cu said that postpaid subscription grew 36 percent at 1.4 million in 2011 especially with the introduction of the new iPhone models as  part of the subscription.

Prepaid subscription also grew by 13 percent at 28.6 million.

“Revenues are at an all-time high, driving improved profitability,” Ayala told stockholders.

Globe announced that it would use a  $700 million loan from various creditors to improve  infrastructure  such as the installation of  4G systems throughout the country.

Aside from that, Globe will  install 10,000 kilometers of fiber optic submarine and aerial cables in the Philippines.

Bithos said Globe’s tailor-fit plans for consumers were a major innovation last year that stunned  competitors, who had just merged.

This year, the firm will introduce more of this kind of plans.

Bithos said the firm would conduct extensive consumer analysis to provide better tailored plans especially in  data services.