Smart has surpassed Globe's 7-year lead in subscribers.

Smart just beat the 7 year crown of the globe and here’s why. Smart announced 55.2 million subscribers following the adoption of SIM (subscriber identity module) card registration, which is slightly greater than Globe Telecom Inc's 54.7 million.

Prior to the SIM listup, Globe owned 84.75 million SIM cards, which was significantly more than Smart's 66.3 million. The Ayala-led telco had maintained its position from 2016 until recently.

“It is a humbling experience. There is a big task ahead on the revenue side,” PLDT chair Manuel Pangilinan said.

“I don’t think the battle should be about subscriber numbers. The game is really your ability to grow the market,” he added.

Alfredo Panlilio, president of PLDT, reported a 1% increase in net income to P27.88 billion, driven by fiber and enterprise divisions. Revenues increased by 3% to P156.36 billion. Fiber revenues increased by 10% to P39.3 billion in September, with 3.14 million fiber users. Revenues from enterprise businesses reached an all-time high of P34.8 billion. From January to September, PLDT spent P55.3 billion, with full-year capital expenditure projection ranging between P80 billion and P85 billion.