ABS-CBN plan to enter telco industry hits a snag

ABS-CBN Corp., the television broadcast firm of the Lopez Group, is still eyeing to launch its brand new telco service within the year as the original October launch is likely to be delayed as the company works out last minute kinks, an executive said last week.

The service, which will make ABS-CBN a third telco player after Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom, will be supported by Globe’s infrastructure, the company said earlier.

“We are a bit behind but we are hoping to launch either November or December if we are able to fix some system issues,” ABS-CBN chief financial officer Aldrin Cerrado told reporters.

He said other considerations were the supply of SIM cards for the service.

“So once we [launch] we are able to service the Philippines nationwide. You don’t want to be just present in Metro Manila. It’s just a matter of making sure all our support systems are in place,” he said.

The partnership, which was branded as a network sharing agreement between ABS-CBN and Globe, the country’s second-biggest telco provider, was announced in May.

Based on the agreement, ABS-CBN will act as a traditional telecommunications provider that will deliver its own content to mobile phones and tablet computers of subscribers.

The company believes this strategy will help lure subscribers from existing players or open up new markets.

Globe will provide capacity and coverage, which ABS-CBN will pay for, nationwide. Details on this specific component, however, have yet to be disclosed by both companies.

“It’s going to be a domestic play,” Cerrado said, while declining to comment on assumptions for subscriber growth.

Currently, PLDT controls about 70 percent of the country’s mobile phone subscriber market with the rest held by Globe.

Cerrado, meanwhile, noted that ABS-CBN was investing P2 billion over the next three years into digital television.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has set a public hearing on Oct. 29 to discuss the adoption of  Japan’s standard for digital television.