Globe Telecom Inc. said it expects mobile and broadband data to further boost its earnings in the coming months as the economy recovers. 

Globe’s data-related revenues for the nine-month period made up 75 percent of total service revenues with mobile data contributing 49 percent; home broadband, 18 percent ; and corporate data, 8 percent.

“This upswing in data consumption was a result of more relevant promotions that Globe released to cater to the changing needs of our customers coupled by the fact that many of our customers are now more conscientious of their data consumption,”  Ernest Cu, Globe president and chief executive said.

“This is evidenced by the rapidly expanding data needs of Filipinos which will only continue to grow as the economy recovers,” he added. 

Mobile data revenues generated P53.4 billion from January to September 2020 from P52.1 billion in the same period last year as a result of the shift to more online activities. Mobile data now accounts for 69 percent of mobile revenues from 63 percent a year ago.

 Mobile data traffic jumped from 1,200 petabytes in the first nine months of 2019 to 1,762 petabytes this period, or a 47 percent growth year-on-year. 

On the other hand, home broadband posted P7.0 billion in revenues this quarter, up 28 percent versus the same quarter last year and 4 percent higher than last quarter. 

This allowed the home broadband business to maintain its upward momentum by posting a 22 percent year-on-year revenue growth to reach P19.5 billion this period, from P16.1 billion last year. 

Total home broadband subscriber base now stands at over 3.4 million, up 82 percent from the first nine months of 2019, driven mainly by the sustained increase of fixed wireless broadband users,  up by 119 percent from last year. 

Home Prepaid Wi-Fi (HPW), likewise,  increased its traction with a  226 percent growth in users from the same period last year. As of end-September of 2020, HPW  data traffic soared to 352 petabytes from 77 petabytes in the same period of 2019. 

The highly-improved performance of the home broadband business was also attributed to the greater demand for faster and reliable internet connection as more companies pivoted towards work from home arrangements, and educational institutions shifted to online classes as a result of COVID-19.

The company has allocated P50.3 billion in capital expenditures this year for network improvements.