SkyCable jumps on int’l VoIP bandwagon, offers voice calls

Lopez-owned SkyCable Corp. has jumped on the Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) bandwagon, allowing its selected customers to make international voice calls at lower costs..

The new offering, called SkyVoice, allows for cheaper international (IDD) call rates compared to other IDD service providers, company officials emphasized.

SkyCable vice-president for marketing Ray Montinola explained that the cheaper cost of equipment for and maintenance of VoIP networks compared to traditional phone networks makes SkyVoice affordable to subscribers. 

Montinola pointed out that the new service is available only to SkyCable subscribers with ZPDee Internet connections. However, for some areas which have already been encrypted by SkyCable (from analog to digital cable television), SkyVoice will be made available even to those who are not SkyCable subscribers as long as they are ZPDee customers.

He explained that when an area has not been encrypted, there is still the danger of illegal connections. But SkyVoice subscribers who are both SkyCable and ZPDee subscribers get a 20 percent discount on their SkyCable bill but not on their ZPDee bill. 

At present, SkyCable has 200,000 postpaid cable television service subscribers in Metro Manila of which around 50,000 are digital (using digital set-top boxes). On top of the 200,000, there are around 20,000 digital prepaid cable TV subscribers. Including Pilipino Cable, the SkyCable group (which includes the former Home Cable) has a nationwide subscriber base of 500,000. 

About 80 percent of SkyCable’s coverage is still unencrypted. Montinola said encryption is driven primarily by the illegal cable connection problem and in order to be able to offer prepaid cable TV service (which has to be digital). Encrypting the remaining 80 percent will also entail a huge capital outlay, he added.

SkyVoice is initially available in ZP Dee-Ready areas in Makati, Pasig, Paranaque, Las Piñas, Pasay, Taguig, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Manila and Muntinlupa.

On the other hand, there are currently around 10,000 ZPDee subscribers and company officials are optimistic they can double this to 20,000 by yearend.

Sky Cable is spending around P600 million this year to convert more cable TV coverage areas from analog to digital-ready, install additional digital set-top boxes, and offer new cable television services. Around P20 million will be used to expand ZPDee’s coverage from 20 percent (of single dwelling units where SkyCable’s network is present) to 40 percent by year-end. 

Montinola noted that there is no need to worry about fluctuating costs since SkyVoice has fixed monthly rates in pesos.

For as low as 44 centavos per minutes, subscribers can place calls to more than 20 countries covered by SkyVoice. Through broadband Internet provider ZPDee, IDD calls can be made using VoIP instead of  via the legacy copper networks.

SkyVoice users can enjoy the lowest per-minute IDD rates (even lower than those being offered by SkyCable sister company Bayantel) to countries covered by its five call plans. Frequent callers to the US (except Hawaii and Alaska ) may avail of Plan 1000 USA at P799 monthly with free 1,000 minutes per month. There is also Plan 2500 USA and Plan 2500 Canada with a fixed monthly rate of P1,099 with free 2,500 minutes per month, which can be used to place IDD calls anywhere in the US (except Hawaii and Alaska) and in Canada.