MANILA, Philippines – Huawei Technologies Philippines Inc. has a positive growth outlook for its business in the country as telcos are investing to improve their network to cater to growing demand for data services.
“I think we have a lot of opportunities in this market,” Huawei Technologies Philippines CEO Jacky Gao said in an interview.
Gao said the rising demand for data services in the country is seen to offer opportunities for the company to grow as telco players are investing to improve network coverage to address subscribers’ needs.
“At this stage, we will focus on the current two telecom players and help them provide a good service to Philippine customers,” he said. Huawei provides support to PLDT Inc.’s Smart Communications Inc. and to Globe Telecom Inc. in their network improvements.
Aside from the growing demand for data services, Gao said the expected rise in use of 4G or LTE (Long Term Evolution) is also seen to offer opportunities for business growth for the company.
At present, only five percent of total smartphone subscribers in the country are using LTE. Gao said the percentage is seen to grow in the coming years as 4G smartphones become more affordable and accessible.
Telcos are already preparing for that scenario.
Under a three-year network rollout plans submitted by PLDT and Globe to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), both are aiming to increase LTE coverage to 95 percent of the country by the end of 2018.
Both telcos would be expanding LTE coverage by using their frequencies and those they gained access to following their acquisition of the telco assets of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) last May.
PLDT, which initially set capital expenditures at P43 billion for this year, has raised the amount to P48 billion to include the additional $100 million budget allocation for the use of new frequencies from SMC.