Smart-PLDT to venture more on PH-based mobile web content

THE growing demand for mobile internet in the country is something which PLDT and Smart wanted to take advantage by developing Philippine-based content.

Manuel Pangilinan, PLDT chairman of the board, said that about 2 million of their 75.3 subscribers are already using internet messaging using their smart phones.

“Its only 2 million (subscribers) yet there is a potential,” he said in a press conference with reporters mostly coming from the Visayas and Mindanao area held after the annual PLDT stockholders meeting at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City.

Pangilinan said that the growing popularity of mobile internet use allowed a 50 percent increase in their mobile internet revenues this year as compared to the same period last year.

“The mobile internet revenues for the first time of smart grew by 50 percent compared to last year. That’s an area for particular attention for us,” he told reporters.

Napoleon Nazareno, president and chief executive officer of PLDT and Smart, said during his report during the stockholders meeting that PLDT is now the market leader with a combined subscriber base of 75.3 million by the end of 2012.

Their subscribers include 69.9 million cellular subscribers, 3.3 million broadband subscribers and 2.1 fixed line subscribers.

By the end of March 2013, their subscriber base further increased to 77 million.