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| Martha Sazon discussing the digital transformation in the Philippines at AfricaCom 2019 (Image Source: INQUIRER.net/Inquirer Business) |
According
to We Are Social's 2019 report on Internet in the Philippines, the internet usage
rate of Filipinos is 71 percent against the global benchmark of 57 percent
while its social media usage is also against the said benchmark which is 71 percent
over 45 percent. These rates have indicated that internet at home in the
Philippines is commonly used for entertainment and home enablement. This was
remarked by Globe Telecom SVP and Broadband Business Head Martha Sazon in her
speech during AfricaCom 2019.
Many
Filipino mothers, nowadays, are going online for their home businesses such as
reselling products from e-commerce platforms like Lazada while the youth use
the Internet as a "life-hack" tool for acquiring skills such as
learning to code or even getting access to a wide range of job opportunities.
However, this covers only at least a quarter of Filipino households who have
internet access as majority of the population in the country do not have such
access in their own homes due to the lack of cheaper home internet packages
available in the market and limited in-home coverage since most of the homes
that are not digitally connected belong to the lower socio-economic segments.
This
case is where Globe At Home, the home broadband internet service of Globe Telecom,
comes in which is now among the stimulants of the Philippines' digital transformation
as stated by Sazon. In 2017, Globe launched and introduced the Globe At Home
Prepaid WiFi, the first prepaid home internet service in the country which aims
to address these problems. The Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi is an affordable
plug-and-play reloadable device that is said to be twice as fast as and has
wider coverage than a typical pocket WiFi. Those who have purchased the said
device will receive free 10 GB of data upon product activation. For only
Php1,499, the device can be conveniently consumed by up to six devices.
The
introduction of the Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi has definitely increased the
number of Globe subscribers by almost twice and led to the birth of the Globe
StreamWatch Xtreme Prepaid. Available for a one-time payment of Php2,999, the
StreamWatch Xtreme Prepaid claims to be the world's first all-in-one device
that serves as a Prepaid WiFi device, Android TV, digital free TV box and
karaoke-ready machine. These two incredibly intriguing devices are part of
Globe At Home's goal of connecting two million households through high-speed
internet by the year 2020. For more details, visit Globe At Home's official
Facebook page.
