The Philippines’ largest operator PLDT plans to outsource most of its IT processes next year as it undergoes a major transformation to reduce costs and turn around its sagging business.

The back-office elements to be outsourced include OSS and BSS functions, CRM, as well as its online and service delivery platforms, PLDT chairman and CEO Manuel Pangilinan told reporters.

BusinessWorld quoted Pangilinan as saying: “We’ve learned that the technology platforms outside the Philippines are much better than what we’ve done here. There’s so many of them that sort of didn’t work.”

The operator announced a management reshuffle just days after reporting a 49 per cent decline in its Q3 profit. Revenue during the quarter fell 6 per cent to PHP40.1 billion ($840 million), with service revenue also down 6 per cent to PHP38.3 billion.

Its mobile unit Smart’s market share has dropped 10 percentage points to 50 per cent in two years. In March the CEO announced a three-year recovery plan after its 2015 profit dropped 35 per cent.

The company’s network investments are projected to reach PHP48 billion this year, up from PHP43 billion in 2015, but will fall to the low-40-billion level next year, Pangilinan said.

Wireless will account for 70 per cent of capex this year, which has increased 72 per cent since 2014 and surpassed 30 per cent of revenue for the first time. Between 2011 and 2015 the capex/revenue ratio was 18 to 26 per cent.

Total expenses rose 13 per cent in the first nine months of the year to PHP108 billion, but up only 6 per cent in Q3.