Local group puts up satellite TV firm

MANILA, Philippines – A group of local businessmen led by Solar Entertainment’s William Tieng and Solid Group’s David Lim has invested P250 million to establish the country’s newest direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television company called Global Satellite (GSAT).

The group also includes several cable television (CATV) operators, cementing proof that DTH can complement and does not have to compete with CATV especially in areas beyond the reach of cable TV.

Other investors in the company include Allan Dungao, Elpidio Paras, Jomar Lobregat and Manuel Dabao, all CATV operators and acknowledged leaders of the local CATV industry.

GSAT becomes the country’s third satellite TV service operator, joining the ranks of local industry pioneer Dream Broadcasting of businessman Antonio ‘Tonyboy’ Cojuangco and Cignal of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) group.

Lim, who is GSAT chairman, said the potential market for DTH in the Philippines is huge, considering that of the more than 40 million households in the country, only 1.5 million households subscribe to cable TV service. A large portion of the untapped market, he pointed out, are located in far-lying areas that do not have the scale or are not financially viable to wire and therefore beyond the reach of CATV.

He emphasized that GSAT complements the service being offered by CATV operators, which is the reason why many of them have agreed to become GSAT’s partner, either as investors or distributors in their area of operations.

As part of GSAT’s agreement with CATV operator-partners, the company will not go into areas that are cabled. But for areas that are uncabled, the CATV operator will act as distributor and will have a share of the revenues. “This will assure them of exclusivity. Most of the members of the Philippine Cable TV Association (the country’s largest grouping of CATV operators) are our targeted partners,” Lim said.

GSAT uses the franchise of First United Broadcasting Corp. which was granted a license by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to operate a DTH service in the country. Its marketing arm is Global Broadcasting and Multi Media Inc.

Lim said for the first year, they are targeting to sign up around 50,000 subscribers.

GSAT’s satellite communication service is provided by SES New Skies and Conax conditional access solution to provide the security via Conax’ CAS Level 7 chipset pairing. The chips installed in both the box and the access card makes the system very difficult to hack.

GSAT’s programming includes a wide array of channels including news and business, sports and entertainment, cartoons, English and Filipino movies, among others. It also creates and promotes its own news and information channel. Lim said they are looking at more local content, especially those geared toward distance learning and teacher training.

GSAT targets the mass market, with its basic package of 14 channels at only P200 a month. Its Western package of nine channels cost P100 a month while its Asian package of six channels goes for P150. However subscribers can opt to get a combination or all of the packages.

For P7200, subscribers can avail of the hardware needed (satellite dish antenna, integrated receiver decoder or IRD, access card, etc.) plus one-year subscription to the basic and Western packages.

To make the DTH service more affordable, Lim said they are considering the possibility of providing the IRD which is the digital recorder or receiver set-top box required to receive DTH signals to subscribers on an installment basis.