ABS-CBN Mobile failed to become a profitable venture for media giant ABS-CBN and its partner Globe Telecom.
Its subscribers can still call and text until the termination approval from the National Telecommunications Commission or NTC. However, the network sharing agreement between the two companies already expired in June 2018 and won’t be renewed.
ABS-CBN Mobile was launched back in 2013 showed impressive initial performance. This may have been the result of ABS-CBN’s aggressive promotion tapping its popular personalities.
However, ABS-CBN chief financial officer Aldrin Cerrado revealed in April 2018 that ABS-CBN Mobile accumulated around ₱560 million in losses in 2017. That’s almost the same amount in 2016 despite having more than a million subscribers.
“After a thorough assessment, ABS-CBN Convergence deemed its current mobile business model to be financially unsustainable,” the company said in a disclosure statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Despite the shutdown of ABS-CBN Mobile, the company’s partnership with Globe Telecom will continue.
This might include the inclusion of the Kapamilya Box Office or KBO and iWant TV access as over-the-top services to Globe Subscribers. The ABS-CBN TV Plus could also be bundled with the Globe at Home prepaid Wi-Fi.
Essentially, ABS-CBN will leverage its strengths in having a vast library of content while its partnership with Globe will provide the necessary mobile services.
Sources: ABS-CBN News, BusinessWorld, and TeleGeography
