Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. said it expects sales of digital home devices to reach more than P2 billion this year.
“PLDT Home had a good head start, having been growing in revenues for five consecutive years now with its unmatched digital services and compelling content,” PLDT executive vice president and consumer business head Ariel Fermin said.
“We provide customers with the most number of home entertainment services running on broadband led by PLDT Home DSL and PLDT Home Fibr that serve as the foundation for value-added services such as linear IPTV with Cignal TV, catch up TV with Fox, and video on demand as offered by iFlix. These services are available at home and on mobile devices,” he said.
Among the growing array of web-connected devices offered by PLDT Home to customers are Telpad, FamCam and the TVolution Stick.
“In the first quarter of 2016 alone, revenues derived from the sale of these devices have reached over P700 million and are likely to exceed P2 billion for 2016,” Fermin said.
PLDT established partnerships last year with international content providers such as iFlix, Fox International Channel and Disney Kids Channel to provide customers with a unified experience that brings together both content and connectivity.
Other integrated content and services offered by PLDT are Cignal on Telpad which allows PLDT Home Telpad subscribers to access kid-friendly Cignal programs on Telpad and Cignal on Broadband (Cignal over Fibr, and Cignal over DSL), the only IPTV service in the country.
PLDT Home commands a market share of around 70 percent in the first quarter as it continues to offer unparalleled digital services to nearly 1.3 million wired broadband customers.
Broadband and data revenues now account for 53 percent of total PLDT Home revenues at P4.23 billion as of end-March.
PLDT, partly owned by Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd. and Japan’s NTT group, earlier reported a net income of P6.22 billion in the January-to-March period, down by 34 percent from P9.48 billion a year ago.
The company linked the decline in net income during the period to higher product subsidies and financing costs and increased impairment charges related to the investment in Rocket Internet.
Core profit, which excludes foreign exchange gains or losses and other non-recurring income, dropped 22 percent to P7.21 billion in the first quarter from P9.28 billion a year earlier.
Consolidated revenues amounted to P42.78 billion in the January-to-March period, up from P42.55 billion in the same period last year.