| On Entrepreneurship and Globalization: John Gokongwei, Jr. (Part 5) |
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(This is the fifth of 8 parts of Mr. John Gokongwei, Jr.'s speech during the Ad Congress on 21 November 2007.) When we started 11 years ago, Cebu Pacific flew only 360,000 passengers, with 24 daily flights to 3 destinations. This year, we expect to fly more than five million passengers, with over 120 daily flights to 20 local destinations and 12 Asian cities. Today, we are the largest in terms of domestic flights, routes and destinations. Largely because of Cebu Pacific, the average Filipino can now afford to fly. In 2005, 1 out of 12 Filipinos flew within a year. In 2012, by continuing to offer low fares, we hope to reduce that ratio to 1 out of 6. We want to see more and more Filipinos see their country and the world! Challenge No. 2: In 2003, we established Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. and developed a brand for the mobile phone business called Sun Cellular. Prior to the launch of the brand, we were actually involved in a transaction to purchase PLDT shares of the majority shareholder. The question in everyone's mind was how we could measure up to the two telecom giants. They were entrenched and we were late by eight years! PLDT held the landline monopoly for quite a while, and was first in the mobile phone industry. Globe was a younger company, but it launched digital mobile technology here. But being a late player had its advantages. We could now build our platform from a broader perspective. We worked with more advanced technologies and intelligent systems not available ten years ago. We chose our suppliers based on the most cost-efficient hardware and software. Being a Johnny-come- lately allowed us to create and launch more innovative products, more quickly. All these provided us with the opportunity to give the consumers a choice that would rock their world. The concept was simple. We would offer Filipinos to call and text as much as they want for a fixed monthly fee. For P250 a month, they could get in touch with anyone within the Sun network at any time. This means great savings of as much as 2/3 of their regular phone bill! Suddenly, we gained traction. Within one year of its introduction, Sun hit one million customers. Once again, the paradigm shifts -- this time in the telecom industry. Sun's 24/7 Call and Text unlimited changed the landscape of mobile-phone usage. Today, we have over 4 million subscribers and 2000 cell sites around the archipelago. In a country where 97% of the market is pre-paid, we believe we have hit on the right strategy. Sun Cellular is a Johnny-come-lately, but it's doing all right. It is a third player, but a significant one, in an industry where Cassandras believed a third player would perish. And as we have done in the realm of air travel, so have we done in the telecom world: We have changed the marketplace. In the end, it is all about making life better for the consumer by giving them choices. (Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8)
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Newer posts:
- Quotes from Successful Pinoy Entrepreneurs (2) --
- On Entrepreneurship and Globalization: John Gokongwei, Jr. (Part 8) --
- On Entrepreneurship and Globalization: John Gokongwei, Jr. (Part 7) --
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Older posts:
- On Entrepreneurship and Globalization: John Gokongwei, Jr. (Part 4) --
- On Entrepreneurship and Globalization: John Gokongwei, Jr. (Part 3) --
- On Entrepreneurship and Globalization: John Gokongwei, Jr. (Part 2) --
- On Entrepreneurship and Globalization: John Gokongwei, Jr. --
- Quotes from Successful Pinoy Entrepreneurs --
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