PLDT seeks to double microenterprise clients

MANILA, Philippines - Telecommunications leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) aims to double its clientele base in the microbusiness segment as it launched a new initiative geared towards addressing the needs of this growing sector.

Microenterprises or “minigosyos” are businesses which earn anywhere between P500 and P5,000 a day. Statistics show that these enterprises, which are mostly involved in wholesale and retail trade, are responsible for 32 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. They also comprise 91 percent of the country’s businesses.

“We aim to be the communication and information provider of choice for every Filipino entrepreneur owning a microbusiness,” PLDT retail business group head Danilo Ibarra said at the launch of PLDT KaAsenso yesterday.

KaAsenso provides “minigosyantes” or microenterprisers with a portfolio of services that cater to their specific needs, from basic voice services to voice and data bundles.

According to Ibarra, over 180,000 micro and retail business entrepreneurs are now registered with PLDT and the telecom firm targets to further increase the number with KaAsenso.

“We are looking at growing the portfolio and to double [the number of registered microbusinesses] in two years,” he said.

PLDT’s average revenue per unit for these microbusinesses is around P1,500 per month.

Aside from the microenterprise sector, the company also wants to strengthen its presence in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector as it eyes a 20 percent to 30 percent increase in revenues in this segment.

The telecom firm likewise expects an increase of up to 30 percent in their SME subscribers, which currently stands at around 70,000.

PLDT SME-Nation comprised 10 percent of PLDT’s net income last year. The segment recorded profits of around P4.3 billion in 2009, from P2.5 billion the previous year.

Company president and CEO Napoleon Nazareno earlier said the company’s fixed line service revenues grew one percent to P12.9 billion during the first quarter of 2010 partly on account of corporate data and DSL service revenues which were higher by 13 percent.

The growth in corporate data and DSL service revenues has been attributed to the continued growth of revenues from SME customers. PLDT has 1.9 million fixed line subscribers as of the end of the first quarter.