Manila: Filipinos are no longer heavy mobile phone users due to economic difficulties, but they remain one of the world's top senders of text messages because the number of mobile phone owners in the country has grown, a congressman said.
"In the first half of 2008, more than 50 million Filipino mobile phone subscribers spent between 148 and 293 pesos (Dh12 to 24) a month for text messages, 10 to 30 per cent lower than what they used to spend monthly over the same period in 2007," said Congressman Joseph Santiago, chairman of the House committee on information and communications technology.
Higher cost of living
"Filipinos are definitely spending less on mobile telephone services to make up for increased spending for food, electricity and transportation," Santiago said, adding that during economic strife, people don't spend on non-essentials.
The figures were based on the monthly average revenue per unit reports of the country's three leading mobile phone service providers, said Santiago, former chairman of the National Telecommunications Commission.
But Filipinos are sending more text messages every day despite the drop in mobile phone usage, said Santiago. "The combined traffic figures of Smart Communications and its sister company, Piltel, indicate that subscribers send an average of 23 text messages from their mobile phone every day," said Santiago.
Smart and Piltel reported a total of 121.35 billion text messages in the first half of this year, up five per cent compared to last year's volume, said Santiago. Globe, a rival firm, did not give a report.
