GLOBE Telecom announced on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, that it has started sending out text messages or SMS to its postpaid and platinum subscribers to confirm and complete their information for SIM registration.

Darius Delgado, head of Globe’s Consumer Mobile Business, said postpaid users will only need to confirm their details by texting SIMREG to 8080 for free.

Postpaid and platinum subscribers will need to confirm and affirm that full name, birthday, sex, address and ID submitted to Globe are updated, accurate and aligned with the SIM Registration Act.

Should the subscriber wish to use updated information, they may do so, using Globe’s online channel which will be available soon.

Globe said it will inform its subscribers immediately as soon as the online channel is available.

The deadline for SIM registration is scheduled on April 26.

“The SIM registration has been smooth so far as we were able to provide an easy registration process across our microsite or portal and GlobeOne app, both of which have been stable today. We have very minimal fallouts from customers accessing both channels,” said Delgado, during Globe’s fourth quarter 2022 virtual media briefing.

Globe logs over 12 million prepaid SIM registrants since Dec. 27, 2022.

Registration via the GlobeOne app started last January 2023, while on-site assisted registration will start in February 2023 for Globe customers facing challenges using digital or online platforms, using feature or basic phones, or having no internet access.

Globe chief commercial officer Issa Guevarra-Cabreira said the SIM registration will have no impact on the company’s financial and operating matrix levels but should improve customer experience as the law reduces if not eliminates scam and spam messages in the network.

In terms of subscriber count, Cabreira said they expect to see some reduction in numbers as it churns out non-active SIMs in the network which will lead to reported subscriber count as well as average revenue per user to be more reflective of actual levels.

Globe invested P50 million to set up a platform for SIM registration, according to Rizza Maniego-Eala, Globe’s chief finance officer.

“In terms of our topline, we don’t see any negative impact. In fact, it may be better for us in terms of being able to get better visibility on our active subscribers. It will also help curb fraud further. This is a good development for us. The minimal investment allows further automation, no impact on revenue growth, and minimal impact on investment and operating expenses,” said Eala.

To accelerate SIM registration among its prepaid customers, Delgado said Globe has initially rolled out SIM registration assistance hubs in 16 remote areas and selected 30 branches of Puregold across the country, in partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

The telco company is also making use of the country’s festival celebrations across the country such as Sinulog to drum up SIM registration awareness and execute onsite SIM registration activities.

2022 performance

Globe Group ended 2022 with P34.6 billion consolidated net income, up by 46 percent from the reported net income in 2021.

Full-year consolidated service revenues grew four percent to P158 billion from P152.3 billion reported in 2021, due to the stellar performance of the mobile and corporate data business as complimented by the sustained growth from non-telco services.

Mobile business revenues registered a three percent increase from a year ago at P107.5 billion from last year’s revenue of P104.4 billion largely contributed by prepaid brands on the strength of an eight percent year-on-year increase in mobile data revenue.

Home Broadband service revenues in the fourth quarter stood at P6.6 billion, slightly lower by one percent than last quarter bringing the full-year Home Broadband revenues to only P27.1 billion or down eight percent from 2021.

Total cash capex as of end-December 2022 peaked at P101.4 billion, higher by four percent from last year’s level of P92.8 billion.

“This marked the highest investment in its mobile and broadband network to provide world-class internet experience for Globe customers nationwide,” the listed company said.

About 86 percent of the total capex for the period was spent on the data network with the company’s continued focus on increasing capacity, cell site upgrades, expanding 5G in more areas in the country, and fast-track fiberization of Filipino homes nationwide for a better internet experience.