NTC sees telcos thriving post pandemic

MANILA, Philippines — Telecommunication companies, whose importance have become even more prominent during the ongoing health crisis, are expected to continue thriving post-pandemic, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said.

“Telco companies have emerged as one of the most essential industries during this pandemic and will most likely stay that way in the foreseeable future,” NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said.

Over the past year, Cordoba said telcos have managed to bring people together, enabled professional and social communications, allowed businesses to continue delivering products and services, and showed admirable resilience amid the COVID-19 crisis.

“You can expect them to build on this foundation in the coming years,” he said.

“2021 will be the year of the great enablers, and we will certainly count telecommunication companies among them,” Cordoba said.

The NTC chief said telecommunications is driving the future of work, and with countries entering lockdown again, the need for digitization is deemed necessary now more than ever.

For this year, Cordoba said the spotlight would be on 5G deployment and the massive boost in connectivity, speed, and business transformation it brings along.

“5G is the latest, but certainly not the last, industry trend set to be deployed worldwide,” he said.

Local telcos such as PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. are still in the early stages of its network rollout for 5G, but expectations are high as the technology is seen as the next big thing in the sector.

Cordoba, however, said 5G would not be the only trend to shape 2021 for telecommunications.

“2021 will also be a great year as telcos demonstrate how they use artificial intelligence and machine learning to drive automation for their infrastructure operations,” Cordoba said.

“We should expect the telecom industry to guide innovation to the new normal as network demands grow larger by the day,” he said.

Local telcos have reported strong revenues last year despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic.

Credit rating agency Moody’s Investor Service earlier said Asia Pacific telecommunication companies are expected to see moderate revenue growth and relatively steady EBITDA margins this year.

This, as the essential nature of APAC telecommunication services has limited the sector’s exposure to pandemic-related disruptions, underpinning a stable outlook for the sector.

Moody’s has regarded the Philippines as among the “early adopters” of 5G technology along with Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.