In a duopoly dominated business or industry, a new player is always a welcome development.
For years the broadband business has been aggressively
pursued and dominated by only two business entities- the Manny V. Pangilinan
controlled-Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Inc. and the Ayala’s Globe
Telecom.
A few months back San Miguel Corporation(SMC) president
Ramon S. Ang tried to be the third
telecom player in the country, it was reported that it has already began talks
with Australia’s Telstra, but sadly both parties was not able to agree on the
partnership that would have been a formidable challenger against the two
existing mobile phone service companies. *
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| File photo (photo credit to PDI) |
Then comes, NOW corporation. It aims to get a slice of the
services being dominated by PLDT and Globe, it will be entering the massive residential broadband
business as it hopes to capture a small but loyal slice of a market.
NOW president and Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) Mel Velarde told reporters in a
briefing Tuesday that the company would utilize its fiber air service, which it
had successfully rolled out for businesses such as banks, schools, hospitals
and hotels.
The next step is homes and CEO Velarde said there was a market for NOW’s
guaranteed broadband rates.
“Families want enterprise-grade service,”
he said, referring to the type of internet quality typically demanded by
businesses.
Using its fiber air technology, NOW hopes
to go around regulatory bottlenecks experienced by the telcos in laying down
fiber cables for their broadband connections. Moreover, it can pursue a modular
approach to expansion, helping mitigate upfront capital spending.
NOW has so far launched its broadband
service in the upscale neighborhood of Corinthian Gardens, in Quezon City.
“This is wireless. We will be able to
cover Metro Manila easily through partners,” CEO Velarde said.
With partners, NOW’s home broadband could
be available across the capital district within 12 months, he said. He is also
targeting to expand in Davao and Cebu City by next year. *
NOW’s partners will help the company penetrate
certain areas and, in exchange, receive a commission.
For Metro Manila, Velarde is targeting a
relatively small market of 400,000 homes and small businesses in five years.
Their current 100 fiber air hubs will increase to over 450.
Funding will come from a P1 billion
preferred share sale, which has convertible features, which Velarde hopes to
close by the first quarter of 2018.
Broadband so far accounts for 20 percent
of NOW’s revenues, most of which come from its IT services arm. NOW’s IT
customers include the Philippine National Bank (PNB) , the Supreme Court (SC)
and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
CEO Velarde said they hope to increase
broadband to 50 percent of revenues and then 80 percent in two years.
And we hope in the near future other telecom players will enter the Philippine market.
Report from PDI
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