The past two decades, Filipino telcos have reaped the benefits of the dramatic growth of prepaid mobile subscribers due to the decreasing prices of mobile phones, the poor fixed line infrastructure in the Philippines as well as the large percentage of the Filipino population with low to middle incomes. However, in recent years, the mobile telecommunications industry has began to reach maturity as mobile penetration approaches saturation and new firms enter the industry. This means that, more than ever, it has become critical for telcos to shift strategic focus to customer retention. In order to do this, firms must first understand what drives their prepaid subscribers to switch service providers. Thus, this study aims to further the understanding of prepaid circumstances, customer perceptions and social influences surrounding subscriber’s decisions to change service providers.
Through a survey among 545 prepaid subscribers in Metro Manila,Philippines, the study makes three major findings. First, it was found that demographic factors have greater effects on prepaid switching than perceptions or social influence. Second, it was found that the drivers of switching intentions were different from drivers of actual switching behavior. Finally, the third major finding was that past switching behavior also has a significant effect on a subscriber’s future intention to switch.

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