Globe Telecom said that its home broadband business made "remarkable gains" in the first half, as most Filipinos were forced to stay at home due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Globe's home broadband business revenue reached P12.5 billion, up 19 percent from P10.6 billion in 2019 while subscriber base is up 58 percent compared to the same period last year with over 2.9 million subscribers, the telco said in a statement.
“Our Globe At Home business truly made remarkable gains this first half. We are happy with the results and will continue to push forward to serve the needs of customers doing work from home, distance learning and those that are transforming their businesses to digital means,” said Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu.
Globe said it would continue boosting network expansion to sustain growth despite the COVID-19 restrictions. It invested some P20.9 billion for its network in the first half, 10 percent higher than 2019.
President Rodrigo Duterte, in his 5th State of the Nation Address, threatened to shut or expropriate telcos if there would be no improvements by December.
In a separate briefing, Cu told Duterte that some local government units were obstructing the permitting process, slowing down the construction of cell towers in the country.
Third telecommunications player DITO Telecommunity, which is mounting a network to challenge Globe and PLDT Inc, said it will launch its commercial service in March 2021.