Sun Cellular postpaid revenues up 15%

MANILA, Philippines - Sun Cellular’s postpaid segment registered a 15 percent growth on the back of increasing average revenue per user (ARPU), and the strong take up of its mid-level plans.

By end 2012, Sun postpaid revenues climbed up to almost P8 billion.

“It is not just our entry-level plans that are getting the attention of the market. Since last year, our industry-leading mid-level plans that we introduced through our ‘Sundroid Rush campaign’ have fueled our revenue increase,” said Orlando Vea, chief executive officer of Sun Cellular.

In October last year, Sun Cellular brought another first to the market by offering postpaid bundles that feature a smartphone handset paired with a tablet for as low as P600.00 a month. Dubbed as the “Sundroid Rush”, Vea said that the campaign signaled a turning point in the company’s efforts to attract subscribers to Sun’s higher plans and thus making this a significant driver in increasing ARPUs.  These plans also became platforms for increasing mobile internet usage which further boosted revenues.

Sun Cellular increased its postpaid subscribers by 16 percent to 1.6 million subscribers in 2012. “Being the first in the market to have reached one million postpaid subscribers more than two years ago, we are positive Sun Cellular is on a clear trajectory to regain the market leadership in postpaid subscriptions,” Vea added.  

Elaborating on the growth in ARPUs, Sun Cellular’s chief operating officer Charles Lim said that more and more subscribers signed up for high-range plans from Plan 600, Plan 999 up to Plan 1699.

“Sun has been known for its strength in the entry-level postpaid segment, and these remain to be our growth drivers. We are just glad that the innovative plans that we launched last year towards the higher plans were also warmly received by consumers,” Lim explained.

Sun Cellular’s senior vice president for postpaid, broadband, and new business marketing Ricky Pena explained that the ‘Sundroid Rush’, while originally intended as a promo, has become one of the categories in Sun’s postpaid line-up. Following the success of the Plan 600 Alcatel bundle, Sun introduced just last month its Sundroid Plan 999 – Samsung bundle edition, and very recently, a Plan 450 variant that carries the MyPhone bundle edition.

“We continue to build our brand equity by addressing new market segments, hence the launch of the most affordable Sundroid tablet+smartphone offer for as low as P450 a month.