MANILA, Philippines—Instead of the usual “text” messages to friends and family, Filipinos chose to send their holiday greetings last month by making more calls and using the social networking Internet sites like Facebook and Twitter, the Ayala-led Globe Telecom said.
The shift in use reflected the drop in rates for telecommunications services.
The volumes of calls during the holiday dates of December 24, 25, 31 and January 1 went up by an average of 50 percent over the same period last year, Ayala-led Globe Telecom said.
On New Year’s Day alone, the number of calls made increased by 70 percent compared to last year, the company said.
Usage rates for calls, text messaging and Internet use have dropped substantially in the past few years as a result of stiffer competition between companies.
“We surmise that the increase in call traffic means that customers have responded well to our call offers and promos available during the period,” Globe’s head for International and Core Services Nikko Acosta said.
Internet usage for the holidays, the company said, also peaked by an average of almost 200 percent with users taking advantage of the phenomenal growth of Facebook and Twitter to send their yuletide greetings.
The Philippines is now at 6th place in the roster of top Facebook users as of December 2010, showing an unprecedented growth of 4,738 percent over the last two years.
The country is also the 4th largest in the number of Twitter users across Asia with over three million users.
“Greater accessibility to the Internet, now with more affordable rates and growing preference for social networking, made Filipinos turn to these channels to send greetings at least during the holidays,” Acosta said.
Volumes for short messaging service or "text" messaging on its network dropped by an average of 7 to 9 percent year on year during the holidays, Globe said.
Dominant carrier Smart Communications did not provide specific figures, but said Internet use by its own subscribers also grew much faster than call and text volumes.
"Traffic grew, but less than previous years," Smart spokesperson Ramon Isberto said.
On average, Filipinos send close to a billion text messages per day. This amount has been said to nearly double during the holiday season.
Smart is the biggest phone firm in the country with over 44 million subscribers at the end of last year.
Globe, for its part, had over 25 million users at the start of this year.
