Converge bets on retail fiber  

MANILA, Philippines — Broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. expects its low-cost fiber to attract more than 120,000 subscribers this year and to generate close to P500 million in revenue.

For this year, Converge president and co-founder Grace Uy said the firm plans to gain about 120,000 customers for Surf2Sawa, its prepaid fiber designed to serve the broadband needs of low-income families.

Down the line, Converge seeks to reach the one million subscriber mark for Surf2Sawa by 2025 on confidence that the product will garner popularity for its affordability and reliability.

“For the year, (Converge sees) less than P500 million as a total revenue contribution, but moving forward we will just keep on adding on. We hope to hit the first million subscribers in maybe two years,” Uy said in an interview with reporters.

“Give us around 2025, we should hit our first one million subscription in the prepaid sector. By then, that should give us a much more significant contribution,” she said.

In June, Converge will enter the low-cost segment by introducing Surf2Sawa, a fiber-to-the-home plan that allows subscribers to buy unlimited internet for as low as P50 per day.

In its financial statement, Converge said that it is well on its way to another year of growth after ending the first quarter with a double-digit increase in profit and revenue.

Converge grew its net income by 10 percent to P2.17 billion in the first quarter as revenue went up by 11 percent to P8.64 billion, outpacing the four percent rise in expenses to P4.65 billion.