Mobile Phones: Bridging the Divides in Philippine Society

 This is an original MFMI resource

Author: Sebastian, Asuncion; Lopez, Tomas
Publication Date: 2005
Publisher / Source: Asian Institute of Management
Length: 17 Pages
File Type: PDF
Language: English
Country: Philippines
Topics: Innovation, Marketing/Demand, Technology
Keywords: wireless, technology, marketing, innovation, low-income market, remittances

Notes:

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Abstract

The wireless communication technology in the Philippines was born in 1991 using the analog system. The original players used to compete in the high income market but the emergence of digital technology in 2000 that enabled short message system (SMS or text) lowered the cost of communication service, thereby attracting new subscribers from the low-income group. This SMS feature, combined with the ?calling party pays? system and the pre-paid service that catered to those who could not meet the credit standards imposed by the mobile companies, increased the subscriber base from merely 60,000 in 1991 to roughly 15 million in 2002 to 30 million by 2004. By this time, various product innovations had been introduced by the mobile phone companies to cater to the needs of the low-income market ? the micro loads, over-the-air prepaid loading, and cash remittances, among others ? which became the new battleground in the mobile industry. In the end, the bridging of technological gaps across income class led to bridging of economic as well as political divides as witnessed in the 2001 EDSA revolution.