PLDT lays groundwork for cable telephony

As part of its convergence strategy, telecommunications leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) is laying the groundwork for its cable telephony project, an endeavor which rival Bayan Telecommunications Inc. (BayanTel) has shelved.

However, PLDT president Manuel V. Pangilinan said that interactive television, together with the company’s plan to offer direct-to-home cable, may have to wait until the merger of PLDT’s Home Cable and the Lopez group’s Sky Cable has been settled.

Pangilinan also emphasized that the company is supporting the passage of a cable bill, which will declassify cable as being part of broadcast and, therefore, allow foreign investment into the financially hit cable business.

Cable telephony with will enable subscribers to access the phone, the television and the Internet using just one cable TV line.

Right now, the same line that allows subscribers of SkyCable and Home Cable is being used to deliver cable Internet service for Sky Internet and Infocom, respectively.

In order, however, to use the same facility for telephone, there may be a need for the cable bill to be signed into law, PLDT officials said.

The Philippine Constitution provides for 100-percent Filipino ownership of media companies (including broadcast and cable) as against the 60-40 ownership rule in the case of public utilities like telecommunications.

BayanTel was supposed to invest $1 million to introduce cable telephony in the Philippines last year, using the facilities of sister company Sky Cable covering 2,000 subscribers in Davao City.

Cable telephony can reduce the price of service of the customers, enable the carrier to cover a wider area faster, and avoid duplication of rollout facilities because the line used for cable television will be the same line used for telephones. This eliminates the need to install a second line.

With local telephone companies acquiring cable television (CATV) firms, the new telecom frontier is shifting to cable telephony.

The Philippines will be only the third country in the Asian region to go into cable telephony after Japan and Australia. In the US, AT&T is using cable telephony extensively.

PLDT is keen on cable telephony in line with its convergence strategy, Nortel Philippines managing director Antonio Pio del Roda said.

Nortel had been negotiating with PLDT to supply the equipment needed for cable telephony. – Mary Ann Reyes