PLDT prepares to launch direct home satellite TV service Companies
The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) Group has nearly completed the preparations for the forthcoming launch of its direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service, an official said on Monday. This, after the project was initially scheduled to be offered in the fourth quarter of last year.
MediaQuest Holdings Inc. president Orlando Vea said in a text message to the BusinessMirror that the group’s DTH offering is “coming soon.” MediaQuest is PLDT’s Beneficial Trust Fund that holds various interests in media companies.
The service was supposed to be commercially launched in the last quarter of 2008 but at that time, Vea said preparations are still underway.
“It’s coming soon. We are just completing the channel line-up but definitely, it is going to be soon,” he said.
The group has allocated about P700 million to jumpstart its DTH satellite TV project in the country. It has tapped SES New Skies of Netherlands to provide transponders or satellite receiver and transmitter that relay the signals receive back to Earth.
“Yes, we have signed an agreement with them. We are contracting their services,” PLDT president Napoleon Nazareno had said.
Vea said the group will utilize the NSS-11 satellite of SES for its DTH satellite TV service.
NSS-11 satellite currently services a number of Chinese, Indian, and Korean language TV channels and pay-TV platforms. The satellite provides high-powered coverage which enables a full range of media and data applications, from DTH service to government communications and VSAT (very small aperture terminal) networks.
“This will signal a new age in Philippine TV in terms of a richer viewer experience,” Vea said.
The terms of the contract, however, is still being kept confidential, said the officials.
The DTH service will initially offer 24 channels. Content, said Vea, will be contracted directly from the providers.
Vea also said the group’s venture into DTH business no longer involves the participation of EchoStar Communications Corp., the largest DTH satellite television provider in the United States. “We are doing it on our own. EchoStar is no longer a part of this [effort],” added Vea.
The plan before was to forge a three-way partnership for the PLDT Group to offer DTH service with the programming content to be supplied by EchoStar.
Earlier, PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan had said a number of companies have expressed interest to partner with the group in its bid to offer DTH service. “Yes, we have been approached. Maybe, we will start it on our own first. We will see. If they can help in sourcing programming at lower cost and sourcing of set-top box that are cheaper then we will see,” he said.
Also, pricing is still being finalized, but the PLDT Group earlier said it wanted to bring down the price of DTH subscription to a level similar to the monthly subscription fees charged for cable TV service.
A cable TV subscription now costs between P450 and P1,200 a month, depending on the type of service and the number of channels made available to the subscriber.
The PLDT Group has been looking at offering DTH service since 2006 but at that time, Pangilinan said it might not be profitable to offer the service, citing probable losses. But sometime in 2007, the PLDT chief said they were ready to take a second look at offering DTH because the cost to go into this service has considerably gone down.
