Sky Cable Philippines targets 1m subs by year end; broadband base tops 169,000

Sky Cable Corp, the pay-TV and broadband subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corp of the Philippines, says it aims to hit the one million subscriber mark this year, fuelled by anticipated growth in direct-to-home (DTH) satellite services. By 30 June 2016 the company reported over 800,000 cable TV subscribers, while Sky Direct, its DTH service launched nationwide in May 2015, had approximately 40,000 users. Meanwhile, the operator’s broadband service reported a 47% year-on-year increase to 169,000 subscribers at the same date. Going forward, Sky Cable Corp believes that the recently launched DTH offer will drive growth and help it fight rivals such as PLDT unit Cignal TV – with over 1.2 million pay-TV customers. Sky Direct has reportedly enabled it to roll out services to 250 cities and towns nationwide, compared with the footprint of 19 cities where its cable network is present. ‘Soon with the DTH that one million [target] is very much achievable, hopefully this year,’ said Rolando Valdueza, ABS-CBN Group chief financial officer.