Philippines Commercial and Defense Space Opportunities
The Philippines emerging space technology market has opportunities in the telecommunications services market, broadcasting, defense and security and earth monitoring and imaging. The total telecom services revenue in the Philippines was $9.4 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period, 2021-2026. This growth will be driven by a steady rise in mobile subscriptions, an increase in 4G service adoption supported by ongoing 4G/LTE network expansions by MNOs, projected growth in higher ARPU 5G subscriptions, and expansion of fixed broadband network coverage and subsequent increase in FTTx lines.
Under the expanding cooperative defense and security agreements between the United States and the Philippines, growth in earth imagining, secure communications and other defense satellite applications is expected to grow at a similarly robust pace.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) launched a five-year roadmap in 2020 to improve connectivity in unserved/underserved areas across the Philippines using a combination of fiber, mobile, and satellite technologies. The DICT also partnered with various satellite operators and service providers to deliver broadband services to remote areas, such as Hughes Network Systems, Kacific Broadband Satellites Group, Thaicom Public Company Limited, and Speedcast International Limited.
The satellite market in the Philippines also benefits from the Kadiwa sa Ani at Kita program, which is an initiative of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to connect farmers and food processors to consumers through satellite centers hosted by electric cooperatives. The program aims to boost the income of farmers and provide affordable and quality food products to consumers. The Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative (CENPELCO) was the first electric cooperative in the region to open a Kadiwa satellite center in 2020.
U.S. companies exploring the Philippines market for space technology will be faced with a number of challenges; these include regulatory barriers, high costs, limited spectrum availability, and environmental risks among others. A number of Philippine government agencies have been working on developing a national satellite policy framework to address these issues and promote the development of the local satellite industry. These include the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), DICT, the Philippines Space Agency and others. While these agencies don’t always coordinate well, the combined effort is working toward the development of the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Micro-Satellite (PHL-Microsat) program, which aims to launch two micro-satellites for disaster management and natural resource assessment.
U.S. companies interested in discussing market entry options for the Philippines’ satellite marketplace should contact BusinessPhilippines@trade.gov.