PLDT unit taps medium-sized businesses

CEBU CITY, Philippines - A new unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Inc. (PLDT) is capitalizing on small and medium enterprises (SME) nationwide by offering IT solutions that will help these grow. As the telecommunications giant transforms its fixed line network into an all-IP (Internet protocol) network, PLDT SME Nation hopes to offer wireless and other solutions through sisters Smart Communications, Inc. and ePLDT, Inc. Mediaquest Holdings, a subsidiary of PLDT’s beneficial trust fund, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld. PLDT’s SME unit has gained 60,000 fixed line subscribers in its first three months of operations, and it wants small businesses in the region to know that it has other products to offer. The subscriber base of PLDT SME Nation, the brand for the company’s products targeting small businesses, is expected to grow by almost a third by yearend as new customers are gained nationwide and more SMEs that are now either corporate or retail customers are migrated to the SME Group. "We’re projecting very bullish growth because we’re coming from a very low base. And with SMEs, there is no way down. We only have the tip of the iceberg," said Katrina C. Luna-Abelarde, head of PLDT’s SME group. The group is eyeing the estimated 700,000 SMEs in the country. Based on registrations at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alone, there are over one million corporations in the country and more than half are active. Of these, 99.6% are SMEs. Growth is expected to come especially from the Visayas and Mindanao, which are both highly untapped markets, Ms. Abelarde said. Only around 10,000 SMEs in both regions have bought PLDT’s products and services. Nilo M. Bantilan, Visayas-Mindanao Business head for the SME Group, said about a fifth of the 10,000 SME subscribers in the Visayas and Mindanao classified as either corporate or retail have been transferred to the SME unit. "We’re building up this subscriber base with the acquisition of new customers," he said. PLDT has around P500,000 subscribers in the Visayas and Mindanao, make up more than a fourth of the company’s 2.3 million fixed line subscribers nationwide. PLDT has an 85% market share in the fixed line business nationwide. Napoleon L. Nazareno, PLDT president and chief executive officer, earlier said PLDT seeks to grow its fixed line subscriber base to three million by 2010 with the conversion of its fixed line business into the more advanced IP network. Last week, PLDT brought its SME Nation campaign to the Visayas and Mindanao starting with Cebu and Tagbilaran. The campaign will then go to Dipolog, Zamboanga and Pagadian, all in Mindanao. The SME group was carved out of PLDT’s corporate and retail customer segments as part of its reorganization that took effect on Jan. 1 to help it reinvent its fixed line business and address the needs of the sector. PLDT is working closely with ePLDT and Smart to provide Web site services and wireless solutions, respectively, to SME subscribers. PLDT is controlled by Hong Kong-listed conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd. and is 20% owned by the group of Japan’s Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (NTT) and NTT DoCoMo, Inc. - Marites S. Villamor, BusinessWorld