Sky Cable cleared in signal dispute

Sky Cable has been cleared by government regulators in a signal interference suit filed by Associated Broadcasting Corp. (ABC), operator of TV5.

In a position paper, regulator National Telecommunications Commission said TV5’s poor transmission quality in the Cebu area was not due to interference caused by Sky Cable’s network.

“The cable TV provider is not responsible for the unexplained poor broadcast transmission signal of TV5 in Cebu, as earlier alleged by the TV network,” Sky Cable said in a statement.

Aside from filing a complaint before the NTC, TV5 also went public in various media reports to accuse Sky Cable of interfering with TV5 transmissions. Sky Cable is a subsidiary of TV5 rival ABS-CBN Corp., which is the country’s largest multimedia firm.

The NTC findings came following a series of inspections to investigate complaints on what has been perceived as tampering of free-TV stations’ signals. TV5 earlier complained of “double-image” reception when viewed on Channel 21, TV5’s channel assignment on Sky Cable in Cebu province. But the NTC said its tests confirmed that the reflected signal from the nearby mountains of Busay and Bagbag, Cebu, was causing the double image.

Further tests made in another cable TV provider (Destiny Cable) located in Paknaan, Mandaue City, showed a similar result of a double image effect from TV5. The technical engineering team from NTC Cebu and representatives from TV5 and Sky Cable participated in the joint investigation.

Sky Cable, the country’s largest cable TV provider, and TV5 were embroiled in a dispute regarding the former’s refusal to add TV5’s Aksyon TV news channel into its lineup. Under NTC rules, cable TV providers must include all free-to-air channels into their lineups, free of charge.—Paolo G. Montecillo