Talk ‘N Text outpace the rest of prepaid brands with 1.7 million new subscribers in Q1!

The prepaid mobile brand Talk ‘N Text of wireless leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) added 1.7 million new subscribers in the first quarter of this year, outpacing the rest of prepaid brands in the industry.

According to Emmanuel Lorenzana, head of Smart’s Wireless Consumer Division, the brand posted subscriber base growth in both quarter-on-quarter and year-ago basis, surpassing the industry average.

Talk ‘N Text also increased its contribution to the total Smart revenues to 30%, from 28% in the same period last year.

Lorenzana added that it is on track to maintain, if not exceed, this level of growth and profitability for the second quarter of the year.

By end-first quarter, the Talk ‘N Text subscriber base totaled 22.2 million, 8.3% growth versus the previous quarter, and 14.2% versus the same period last year.

“The brand achieved this stellar performance primarily because of its clear positioning as a value brand addressing the needs of a large base of customers and rising penetration across all regions,” said Lorenzana.

“The exceptionally strong usage of various Talk ‘N Text voice and SMS offers and low churn rate indicates a very healthy brand preference among subscribers for our brand in the mass market,” he added.

Among these best-selling, ‘sachet load’ services are the Talk ‘N Text Gaan UnlitextPlus, Gaan All-in-One, and Pa-Tok-o-Text buckets, and their denominations at various price points.

Usage of these offers has driven the overall first-quarter revenues and wallet-share of Talk ‘N Text to increase year-over-year and quarter-on-quarter.

Also contributing to its performance are new product innovations like Panalo Phone and Barangay Phone, both geared at putting a mobile phone in the hands of the last 10 million or so Filipinos that still do not have access to basic telecommunications services.

The Barangay Phone is a fixed wireless terminal with a special Talk ‘N Text SIM card, which allows users to call any landline or mobile phone, anywhere in the country, for as low as P3 for a three minute call, or effectively, P1 per minute.

It is deployed in sari-sari stores in the most remote areas in the countryside, and at high-traffic locations such as public markets or transportation terminals.

The Panalo Phone, on the other hand, is one of the world’s most affordable prepaid cellphone kits.

Offered by Talk ‘N Text at only P499 for a handset with 2G connectivity for basic call and text services, it also comes pre-loaded with 40 text messages to other Talk ‘N Text subscribers and another 25 messages to users of other networks, and exclusive usage offers.

The brand has also started tapping in the digital and social networking space with the successful launch of its TNT TV and Facebook page.

“As we maintain our focus on the mass market and create more services designed to suit the needs of the market, so will we see more subscribers choosing Talk ‘N Text,” Lorenzana said.

Talk ‘N Text is celebrating its 12th anniversary this month with a series of barangay-based events nationwide called Anibersaya. It also recently launched an advertising campaign called Araw-Araw Panalo, highlighting the way Talk ‘N Text continues to enable its subscribers to achieve and accomplish daily victories. The brand is also set to expand its footprint as Smart’s network continues to expand and cover over 99% of the country’s population.

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