Mobile data services and fixed broadband are set to drive the Philippines' telecom growth, according to GlobalData

Telecom and pay-TV services revenue is expected to grow at 4.09 per cent CAGR between 2019-2024, mainly supported by rising adoption of mobile data and fixed broadband, the data and analytics company says.

According to GlobalData's fixed communications, mobile broadband and pay-TV forecasts, fixed broadband will be the fastest growing segment in terms of revenue.

Project manager of telecoms market data & intelligence Amit Sharma that although mobile data will be the second fastest growing segment, it will be the largest revenue-contributing segment to the country's telecom and pay-TV services market during the forecast period.

The growth in mobile data revenues is driven by the growing adoption of 4G services and machine to machine/IoT subscriptions. Moreover, the projected growth in 5G services that result in higher average revenue per user will also contribute to the growth of mobile data revenues.

The number of smartphone subscriptions has also grown as a result of improvement in the bandwidth of mobile broadband. By the end of 2019, there were an estimated 118 million smartphone subscriptions in the Philippines, which are forecast to increase to 144 million by 2024. M2M/IoT subscriptions are expected to grow from 3.5 million to 8.5 million at a CAGR of 19 per cent during the forecast period, primarily driven by the improvement in mobile network connectivity.

The share of fixed broadband in the total telecom revenue will increase from 23 per cent in 2019 to 30 per cent by 2024, with the major driver for growth being ongoing investments by the operators such as PLDT and the government in fibre-to-the-x (FTTx) technology.

Sharma concludes: "The mobile and fixed communication subscriptions penetration will continue to rise in the Philippines, driven by the expansion of 4G mobile network coverage by mobile network operators, steady growth in smartphone subscriptions and the ongoing investments in telecom infrastructure."