PCTA addresses problems of cable TV sector

Along with the Internet, cable television has dramatically transformed the way Filipinos view the world. The arrival of cable TV has changed Filipino households for the better, enabling everyone to have increased access to information and entertainment through a variety of international channels.

But the industry is not without its problems. According to Philippine Cable Television Association (PCTA) director Jose Lobregat, the industry is going through a lot of disconcerting situations.

"The cable industry has remained stagnant over the years," he says. "Apart from this, our infrastructure has limited capabilities and the programming content right now is simply too expensive."

Lobregat though says that the operators and the PCTA are now coming up with ways to remedy the alarming trends. "We plan to increase revenues through savings and consolidation, upgrade the current infrastructure by providing tax incentives and allow foreign investments to come in."

The industry is also plagued by the fact that the present source of revenue is limited to the basic subscriber’s fee and that other sources like advertising, tiering, Internet and other value-added services still need to be developed. For this, the PCTA plans to continue lobbying for legislation that will allow these services to be put in place.

The PCTA has also observed that customer loyalty is based on the programming content and not to the service provider and they plan to address this dilemma by asking the operators to provide additional content for an additional fee. Another way is to provide addressability and/or tiering.

Another rampant problem is that operators are feeding illegal signals in their cable systems and that there is a growing signal theft by illegal subscribers.

The PCTA believes that the National Telecommunications Commission, Video Regulatory Board, National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police should strictly enforce the laws and that they should come up with legislation which will penalize signal theft.

Lobregat says, "We believe that to remedy this predicament, intellectual property and copyright laws must be massively disseminated so that all concerned government agencies can implement them."

Through the concerted efforts of the PCTA and the government agencies concerned, it won’t be long before the local cable industry becomes profitable and vibrant.