SkyCable signals clear, of high quality, says NTC

SkyCable, the country’s leading cable TV provider, continues to provide high-quality signals for all channels in its roster, even those of rival broadcast networks, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said.

This comes despite past accusations that SkyCable had sabotaged the broadcasts of rivals of its parent firm, ABS-CBN Corp.

In a recent report, the NTC’s National Capital Region (NCR) office said the signal of GMA Channel 7 that SkyCable transmits was “found to be clear and of high quality.”

“We strive to ensure that all channels SkyCable airs are at the best quality possible, and we are happy that the NTC report validates this,” SkyCable marketing head Ray Montinola said.

“We also conduct surveys among our cable subscribers to confirm that our signal quality is consistent and acceptable for all channels,” he said.

The NTC inspection stemmed from a request made by SkyCable for the regulator to conduct an investigation on the signal quality of GMA Channel 7, ABS-CBN’s chief rival, which is being transmitted by SkyCable to its Metro Manila subscribers.

The inspection, ordered by NTC Deputy Commissioner Delilah Deles, was done at the company’s head-end facility located in Barangay (village) Little Baguio, San Juan City.

Earlier, the NTC cleared SkyCable in a signal interference suit filed by Manuel V. Pangilinan’s Associated Broadcasting Corp. (ABC), operator of the TV5 network.

TV5 had publicly accused SkyCable of interfering with TV5 transmissions, particularly in Cebu City and nearby areas.

Following an inspection, the NTC found that TV5’s poor signal quality, resulting in “double-image” reception, was a result of reflected signals from the nearby mountains of Busay and Bagbag.

Further tests made in another cable TV provider (Destiny Cable) located at 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 SkyCable participated in the joint investigation.

“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,” SkyCable said.

SkyCable 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.