MANILA – Globe Telecom has teamed up with WhatsApp to provide the mobile messaging service for free with a prepaid promo or postpaid plan subscription.
Starting April 30, users subscribed to promos such as GoSakto, GoUnli25, GoUnli20 and GoSurf or on myLifestyle Plan can exchange text and video messages, create messaging groups and send each other unlimited images without data charges.
This is the latest zero-rated service – the practice of exempting data usage charges when accessing certain websites or apps – Globe has introduced in the country in a bid to democratize mobile internet use.
The telco began with free Facebook in October 2013, which returned for a third run together with free Viber, another mobile messaging app, in January.
Globe revealed last March that such a strategy has paid off significantly, boosting the number of its data users up 110% all thanks to the Free Facebook campaign done over the last two years.
And if its not free, Globe is providing access to apps like Facebook Messenger, Line and WeChat for as low as P10 per day via the GoChat 10 prepaid promo.
Mobile browsing and other data revenues reached P14.3 billion in 2014, up 23% from P11.6 billion in the previous year. Globe announced that this lead to securing 64% revenue market share.
The Globe network also carried significantly higher data traffic at 87,000 terabytes of data, increasing 270% from the previous year because of a significant surge in mobile browsing activity and higher smartphone adoption among its customers.
