IT spending in RP to hit $1.2B-- IDC

By Erwin Lemuel Oliva, INQ7.net

PHILIPPINE information and communications technology (ICT) spending is projected to hit 1.2 billion dollars in 2005, according to the International Data Corp. in its Directions 2005 briefing in Manila this week.

This is a 12.5 percent increase over 2004, said Manuel Ravago, research manager of IDC Philippines.

About 65 percent of the IT spending will go to hardware acquisition and 28 percent to IT services. About seven percent of the estimated 1.2 billion dollars IT expenditure will be for packaged software, Ravago added.

This increased spending will be driven primarily by improving economic and increased consumer spending, the Philippine government’s push for information and communications technology projects, and the expansion of local telcos.

The bustling call-center industry, the emerging online gaming market, and the growing IT market in small and medium enterprises will all contribute to increase IT spending in 2005.

Ravago pointed out that online gaming is projected to become an 11 million-dollar industry this year. "The expansion of online games and the deployment of technologies related to this industry will boost spending," he said.

E-government projects like the Commission on Information and Communications Technology’s community e-center will also drive spending, he added.

Ravago noted that the Philippine government is projected to spend about 18 billion pesos in ICT-related projects until 2010.

At the other end, Philippine-based telcos are expected to spend a total of 4.74 million dollars by 2009 on ICT, he added.

This will be invested in next-generation mobile networks, new short messaging service and mobile applications, voice over Internet Protocol, new wireless technologies, and broadband deployment.