House OKs franchise renewal bills of two MVP firms

MANILA, Philippines — Franchise extension bills for two major companies of tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan are now off to the Senate floor after getting a final nod from the House of Representatives. 

Before going on break on Thursday, House lawmakers approved on third and final reading House Bills 8970 and 8977 which would extend by 25 year each the legislative licenses of Smart Broadband Inc. and Cignal TV, respectively.

Smart Broadband’s current license was granted in 1997 under its old name Meridian Telekoms Inc. Without the extension, the company’s franchise would expire by July next year. On the other hand, Cignal TV, formerly GV Broadcasting System Inc., see its current license lapse in March 2023 if not extended by Congress. 

Both franchise bills will still need to hurdle the Senate, before getting to the president’s desk for enactment. 

As of September last year, Smart Broadband’s service is accessible to 95% of population, complemented by heavy fiber infrastructure investments of its parent, PLDT Inc. Cignal TV Inc., a Direct-to-Home satellite provider transmitting 120 channels, is also part of the PLDT Group.

The enactment of the franchise bills would be crucial in ensuring Pangilinan’s two major ventures can proceed with their pandemic recovery unhampered. PLDT sees telco core net income hitting between P29 and P30 billion this year, which if realized, will be a slight improvement from P28 billion last year.  

Editor's note: Manuel V. Pangilinan is the chief executive of PLDT. A unit under PLDT's media conglomerate has a majority stake in Philstar Global Corp., which runs Philstar.com. This article was independently produced following editorial guidelines.