PLDT unit to spend $50M for mobile TV rollout

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. unit MediaQuest Holdings has earmarked $50 million for the operations and roll out of the first commercial mobile television service in the country, which will be introduced with the help of Smart Communications Inc. The $50 million investment will be MediaQuest's alone, and does not include Smart's input in the venture. MediaQuest president Orlando B. Vea told reporters on Tuesday that the $50 million will be spent over three years and would fund the operations and implementation of the mobile TV which they branded as “myTV". The service will enable mobile phone users to watch their favorite television programs anytime, anywhere, Vea said. Among the channels that can be viewed includes CNN, MTV Philippines, Cartoon Network, National Geographic channel, Pinoy Box Office, History channel, Solar Sports, Basketball TV, ETC, and Jack TV. MyTV will also carry Philippine Basketball Association games live on its service beginning with its upcoming season. Vea said initially there would be more than 10 channels including top rated local TV channels that would be made available in the myTV subscribers which will be provided to both post-paid and pre-paid subscribers of Smart. MyTV service is being broadcast using the mobile TV platform called Digital Video Braodcasting-Handhel or DVB-H and it can be accessed using DVBH-capable handset such as N92 and the upcoming N77. For this year, Smart is looking at about 60,000 to 70,000 initial subscribers in the next few months. "This is expected to increase exponentially over the next few years," said Danilo Mojica, Smart head of Wireless Consumer Division. He explained that the mobile TV package will be an additional cost to the users which was placed at P488 per month for the post-paid to avail of these services while for the pre-paid they need to maintain P1 airtime load on top of the P488 monthly myTV package to avail of the service. Initially, myTV can be viewed in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, Tagaytay, Batangas, and Baquio City and will soon be available in Boracay and Cagayan de Oro. - GMANews.TV