Cignal subscriptions reach 1-M target ahead of schedule

MANILA, Philippines - Cignal TV Inc., the pay TV arm of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), has hit its one million subscriber target earlier than expected given sustained good quality and wide reach of its services.

In a briefing yesterday, Cignal president and CEO Emmanuel Lorenzana said the company now holds a 35 percent market share in terms of subscribers.  Two-thirds of its clients are prepaid subscribers while 35 percent are post-paid subscribers.

As of the end of 2014, Cignal’s subscriber base stood at only  844,000.

“With a fast growing subscriber base, the revenue is also following the same level of growth so you can see revenues eventually also leading toward leadership,” Lorenzana said.

Given this, Cignal now aims to further grow its subscriber base to 1.1 million by the end of the year.

Oscar Reyes Jr., Cignal chief operating officer, said the company achieved the one million subscriber mark amid the good quality of its service and the company’s wide reach.

“A big driver is the quality and the other one is the ability to serve everyone through the prepaid (packages),” Reyes said.

He noted Cignal’s reach is far wider than other cable TV providers which do not service rural areas especially those in the mountains or in islands.

The low penetration of cable and satellite TV services in the Philippines will help boost the firm’s subscriber base, Reyes said.

He said the penetration rate only stands at 14 percent nationwide, lower than what is experienced in other countries in the region.

Reyes said Cignal plans to attract more new customers through its competitive prepaid and postpaid packages.

The company has set a P1.4 billion capital expenditure program this year, most of which will be spent on digital boxes.

Established in 2009, Cignal TV is the country’s premier digital-to-the-home (DTH) satellite provider. It broadcasts to households and other venues via Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) technology.