The total mobile services revenue in the Philippines is set to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5% from $4.3bn in 2022 to $5.3bn in 2027, mainly due to the rising adoption of mobile data services, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
According to Global Data’s Philippines Mobile Broadband Forecast (Q3 2022), while the mobile voice service revenues will decline at a CAGR of 7.6% between 2022 and 2027, in line with the drop in mobile voice (average revenue per user) ARPU levels, mobile data service revenue will grow at the fastest CAGR of 6.8% due to the continued growth in 4G subscriptions and projected rise in the adoption of 5G services.
The average monthly mobile data usage is forecast to increase from 5.1 GB in 2022 to about 17.6 GB in 2027, driven by the growing consumption of high-bandwidth online video services and social media content over smartphones.
Kantipudi Pradeepthi, Telecom Analyst at GlobalData, says: “4G will remain the leading mobile technology, in terms of subscriptions, until 2026. 5G subscriptions will surpass 4G subscriptions and go on to account for 63% share of the total mobile subscriptions in 2027, driven by the network expansion initiatives by the telecom regulator and mobile operators.”
The Philippines mobile communications market was a virtual duopoly until 2020, with Globe and PLDT as major service providers. Dito Telecommunity (Dito), which got license in July 2019, began its operations in March 2021.
Pradeepthi concludes: “Dito is adding new subscribers to its network through a range of promotional mobile service plans with unlimited texts and free voice minutes at prices starting from PHP99. Globe, however, is expected to retain its leadership through the forecast period supported by its strong focus on network expansion and modernization.”