The country’s mobile phone penetration rate dropped 21 percent as of the end of 2023, compared to the previous year following the mandatory subscriber identity module (SIM) registration last July.
Based on the National Telecommunications Commission’s (NTC) data, mobile subscriber base stood at 122 million as of 2023, down by 20 percent from 153 million subscribers reported in 2022.
With this, the penetration rate stood at 104.3 percent in 2023 versus 132.3 percent in the previous year.
Despite the decline, the subscriber base is still significantly higher than the 100 million target registered SIMs that the Department of Information and Communications Technology set last year.
As of July 30, 2023, the total number of registered SIMs in the country stood at 113.9 million, which is equivalent to 67.8 percent of the total 168 million subscribers nationwide as of 2022, said the NTC.
Globe Telecom Inc. reported its mobile subscribers stood at 57 million in 2023, of which 2.5 million are postpaid and 54.5 million are prepaid subscribers. That is significantly down compared with 87.9 million subscribers in the previous year.
Despite deactivating approximately 30 million SIMs, primarily inactive users, the company noted an increase in gross mobile average revenue per user (ARPU) for its Globe Prepaid and TM brands.
PLDT Inc. reported 57.8 million subscribers as of the end of 2023, of which 2.2 million are postpaid and 55.7 million are prepaid users. The company also reported a 17 percent increase in blended ARPU in 2023 versus 2022.
In a regulatory filing, Globe said competition in the mobile market remains intense with the high level of mobile penetration, driven by the prevalence of multi-SIMming or individuals with SIMs, and the emergence of a third player, DITO Telecommunity Corp.
As of September last year, DITO gained over 7.8 million subscribers and increased this to around 10 million as of the end of 2023.
Evelyn Jimenez, DITO chief revenue officer-consumer, recently told reporters DITO has 10.4 million subscribers, and this is anticipated to reach 15 to 16 million by the end of 2024.
“We have a very high active rate, 90 percent of our customers are active at any time. very high from other markets,” said Jimenez, adding that bulk of DITO’s customers are based in Luzon.
“At the outset, breaking into the market was a really daunting challenge, especially amidst the long-standing duopoly. We needed to fight for our place on the table and establish who we are as a telco brand and what we really value as a company. Armed with a customer-centric mentality and a passion to make a difference, DITO thrived and flourished. We only started with thousands of subscribers, and now, after three years, we have millions of DITOzens who love and trust our brand and our products. And because of that, we are really grateful.” Jimenez said.
