MANILA, The Philippines—Globe Telecom is aiming for not less than 10,000 of its 4.5 million prepaid subscribers to subscribe to its international roaming service, a US$2 million investment by the cellular firm that allows prepaid customers to send and receive calls and text messages when abroad.
James Ileto, Globe senior manager for mobile use, said the target number of prepaid roaming users is expected to grow to 30,000 by year-end. He added that the investment forms part of the programmed capital expenditure of Globe placed at 5.2 billion pesos (US$106 million) for the first quarter of 2002.
In terms of revenue, Ileto expects these 10,000 users to make four to five international roaming calls and 10 text messages a day. The average traffic per prepaid roaming user is expected to double toward year-end.
As of last quarter, Globe’s wireless subscriber base reached 5 million. More than 2 million new subscribers were added from the same period last year, representing a 71-percent hike. Ileto said Globe’s postpaid subscribers who enrolled in its roaming service contribute 1 billion pesos (US$20.4 million) a year to the cellular firm’s overall revenue collection.
