RP cable TV industry lost P7B to piracy in '06

The Philippine cable television industry lost at most P7 billion to piracy in 2006, the Philippine Cable TV Association said on Wednesday. At the sidelines of a PCTA convention, PCTA president Allan Dungao told reporters that the industry had foregone revenues of about P6 billion to P7 billion last year owing to illegal connections. “Losses due to signal piracy are tremendous," Dungao said As of 2006, Dungao said the number of illegal cable TV users was estimated at 2.5 million, while the number of legitimate subscribers stood at 1.5 million. He said signals often stolen were those of popular channels CNN, AXN, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, ESPN, STAR Sports, STAR Movies, STAR World, HBO, MTV and National Geographic Channel. With the cable TV piracy in the Philippines is growing at an alarming rate, Dungao said their group will try to push the enactment of a bill that would criminalize cable signal piracy in the country.-GMANews.TV