ABS-CBN Corp of the Philippines says its is stepping up efforts to become the country’s ‘third player’ in the telecoms industry, having signed a groundbreaking network sharing agreement with Filipino carrier Globe Telecom. Under the plan the media conglomerate turned telco says it will launch an ABS-CBN branded mobile SIM that will provide users with ‘the same telco services plus exclusive content from the company’. In short, people buying the new ABS-CBN mobile SIM will be able to make voice calls, send SMS and surf the web like any other consumer on a telco platform, but with the added bonus of having access to exclusive ABS-CBN content. The group intends to offer TV content delivered via a mobile platform, which it hopes will give it a distinct marketing edge.
This week ABS-CBN, through its ABS-CBN Convergence Inc unit, and Globe Telecom formally sealed a network sharing agreement that will pave the way for the conglomerate to deliver content and traditional mobile services such as voice, SMS and data over the Ayala-led telco’s infrastructure. ABS-CBN will be buying capacity from Globe Telecom under the five-year agreement; it intends to invest between PHP2 billion and PHP3 billion (USD47 million and USD71 million) in the next three years in the new venture. Initially the new ABS-CBN SIM will be bundled with mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, and will soon be made available in ABS-CBN stores before the year ends.
