‘Be productively paranoid,’ Globe CEO tells team

Globe Telecom CEO Carl Cruz's practice of personally subscribing to competitors Smart and DITO offers a direct, if anecdotal, look into competitive intelligence in the Philippine telco sector. This 'productive paranoia' approach, as Cruz terms it, suggests an operational focus on understanding user experience across the market. While not a new concept, its public acknowledgment by a major CEO like Cruz underscores the intensity of competition in the Philippines, a market with high mobile penetration and ongoing infrastructure development. The key thing to watch is whether this granular competitive insight translates into tangible service improvements or new product offerings from Globe. Merely observing competitors does not guarantee market share gains; the execution of responsive strategies is critical. The Philippine market remains dynamic, with DITO still working to establish itself against the entrenched duopoly of Globe and Smart.