Skycable offers 12-mbps speed for broadband

MANILA, Philippines - Skycable is seeking to increase its share of the fixed-line broad-band Internet market with the launch of its new Sky Broadband service, said to be four times faster than offerings from its rivals. In a briefing Monday, the cable TV brand of Lopez-owned Central CATV, Inc. said the service features Internet speeds of up to 12 megabytes per second (mbps), compared with the maximum three mbps now available for residential broadband subscribers. "We are looking at a significant increase in our subscriber base," SkyCable Vice-President for Marketing Rodrigo P. Montinola said. The company said it would spend P500 million until 2009 to upgrade its cable modem terminal services. The service will be available in seven different packages that cost P1,000 to P6,000 a month, with connection speeds of one mbps to 12 mbps. — Paolo Luis G. Montecillo, BusinessWorld