Telecoms & IT
From The Report: The Philippines 2015
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Just two companies control the fixed-line and mobile telecommunications market; however, competition between these two providers is intense. The mobile network operators are beginning to shift their investment focus to providing more data capacity and related services, preparing networks for the 4G rollout. Despite the two incumbent operators enjoying an entrenched market position that makes them difficult to challenge, the propensity for Filipinos to consume online content and engage in social media presents opportunities for a range of technology firms involved in delivering media content, gaming, e-commerce and digital advertising. If harnessed effectively, the Philippines possesses a number of ingredients that position it to emerge as a globally competitive tech hub. While large corporates and business process outsourcing companies are still the mainstay when it comes to ICT spenders, efforts are under way to integrate and transform government agencies to more effectively deploy IT in delivering public services.

This chapter contains interviews with Mariels Almeda Winhoffer, Vice-President for Global Business Partners Asia-Pacific, IBM; and Maria Rosario Santos-Concio, President and CEO, ABS-CBN Corporation.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Demand and opportunities grow for local telecoms providers in the Philippines
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Lagging behind the region’s faster evolving markets when it comes to the provision and adoption rate of mobile broadband, data usage and mobile services in the Philippines are expected to grow as smartphones become more pervasive and the two leading operators continue to raise capital expenditure to upgrade existing networks and deploy 4G sites. MARKET LAYOUT: Although considered a duopoly, with the two leading operators – Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) and Globe Telecom – controlling the majority of fixed line and mobile subscriptions, competition between the two is high. Each firm looks to capture shares from the other…

Overview

Building infrastructure with an eye to future growth in the Philippine IT sector
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With a large, young and social media savvy population approaching 100m, a fast growing economy that is forecast to become the world’s 16th largest by 2050, and a relatively affordable labour pool with strong English proficiency, the Philippines boasts many exploitable assets that could establish the country as a regional IT powerhouse. One of the biggest opportunities is in the business process outsourcing (BPO) space – for which the country has gained global prominence – and learning how to better leverage this attribute to transition from lower-value call centre and transaction offshoring to more IT-centric components of the value…

Analysis

Public and private efforts to support local technological innovation in the Philippines
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The Philippines’ tech start-up scene is on the cusp of taking a major leap forward, as the support infrastructure and ecosystem to finance and bring ideas to market takes shape. To date, the most successful ideas to hit the market have been adaptations of Western-conceived innovations, such as local versions of taxicab ordering services. But slowly and surely, creative solutions to uniquely Filipino and developing market challenges are being germinated. The next phase of evolution, which is being bolstered by the establishment of several incubation centres and accelerators, is for the Philippines to mature into a place where innovative…

Interview

Mariels Almeda Winhoffer, Vice-President for Global Business Partners Asia-Pacific, IBM: Interview
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Interview: Mariels Almeda Winhoffer How does ANALITIKA consortium plan to turn the Philippines into a regional analytics centre? MARIELS ALMEDA WINHOFFER: The vision started as an IBM requirement, as we had identified analytics as a key growth area to invest in. At that time the global analytics market was worth $176bn. Today, including services, software and hardware components, it is estimated at $232bn, with the services component growing at 15%. Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a $300bn…

Interview

Maria Rosario Santos-Concio, President and CEO, ABS-CBN Corporation: Interview
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Interview:Maria Rosario Santos-Concio How is the Philippines positioned as a location for the development of media and entertainment content for the ASEAN region? MARIA ROSARIO SANTOS-CONCIO: We have been successfully exporting content to the region for several years, with shows having aired in Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia and China, and this has garnered various awards at various festivals in the region. Beyond Asia, content is being exported to Africa, particularly North…