ABS-CBN MOBILES AIMS BREACH 3 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS BY END 2015!

MANILA – ABS-CBNmobile, the mobile arm of ABS-CBN Corp., is looking to increase its subscriber base to 3 million this year, double the number of subscribers it had at the end of 2014.

ABS-CBNmobile initially set a target of 2 million subscribers to break even, but ABS-CBN Access head Carlo Katigbak said the target was raised due to a decline in average revenue per user (ARPU).

“We have quite a challenge this year. I think our goal is to bring this up to about 3 million customers, double to where we came from at the end of last year,” he said.

Katigbak, however, noted that the decline is not continuous and ARPU is “slowly going up.”

“We were also targeting a higher ARPU before, so given our realities now, since mas mababa ‘yung ARPU, mas mataas nalang ‘yung subscriber base,” he said.

Katigbak added that ABS-CBNmobile has no plans so far to offer free Internet services to its subscribers, similar to the promos offered by Globe Telecom and Smart.

“I don’t think it’s something that’s going on forever, you can’t really build your business on free,” he said, adding that ABS-CBNmobile’s partnership with free messaging apps such as KakaoTalk will continue.

ABS-CBN Group chief financial officer Ronaldo Valdueza, meanwhile, said the firm is on track to meet its 3-million subscriber target.

He said that as of end-January, ABS-CBNmobile has a subscriber base of about 1.6 million to 1.7 million.

He added that the mobile firm will be launching postpaid plans within the year.

ABS-CBNmobile, which was launched in November 2013, is a joint venture between Lopez-led ABS-CBN Corp. and Globe Telecom.