For a telecommunications company operating in a mature mobile market, like Globe Telecom Inc., growth is no longer a matter of increasing revenues and hauling in new subscribers but finding opportunities elsewhere, such as tapping into the low Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) mass market, electronic wallet and broadband services.

“We are now looking at an 80 percent cellular phone penetration in the Philippines, with 70 to 80 million SIMS industry-wide, of which up to 34 percent are multi-SIMS,” confirmed President and CEO Ernest L. Cu. Globe’s mobile business added 117 thousand SIMs in the last quarter of 2009, ending the year with 23.2 million mobile subscribers.

For 2010, “We are cautiously optimistic. We expect the growth of our mobile business to mirror the growth of the economy. Industry growth will be at a low to mid-single digit, in line with the projected Gross Domestic Product growth of 2.5 to 5 percent. Mobile telephony EBITDA margins will be at mid-60s.”

The growth will be more dramatic for broadband, he confirmed. Already, Globe’s broadband business delivered robust subscriber growth in 2009, ending the year with over 715,000 subscribers, more than triple that of prior year’s level of about 230,000. Its broadband revenues shot up 74% to P3.3 billion in 2009 from P1.9 billion in 2008.

This year, “The broadband industry will double from 2009’s total of 2.5 million subscribers to 5 million. Globe aims to grow its broadband subscriber base to 1.3 million by this year-end. Our subscriber growth will come mostly from fixed wireless (WiMAX) and pre-paid nomadic segments,” Cu projected.

In line with this objective, Globe is expanding its WiMAX footprint. “Our WiMAX service now covers more than 190 towns and cities delivered via more than 850 WiMAX stations nationwide,” he disclosed.

Furthermore, the telco is sinking in the bulk of its investment – up to 46 percent or $230 million of its 2010 capital expenditure totalling USD$500 million, in broadband. Its mobile business only has a 34 per cent, or $170 million, allocation in its capex. The balance of 10 per cent, or $50 million, goes to a one-time investment in Globe’s $70 million Fiber Optic Backbone Network 2 (FOBN2), the $90 million TGN Intra Asia Cable system and the $60 million SEA Japan Cable system. The remaining 10 percent, or $50 million, goes to fixed line data and others.