With Sky Cable out, Converge scaling up pay TV presence

MANILA, Philippines  —Converge ICT Solutions Inc. is ready to fill the void in the pay television space as Sky Cable is about to exit the cable business following its merger with PLDT Inc.

Jesus Romero, chief operations officer at Converge, told reporters last week they were looking at further expanding their pay TV service, which is only currently available for the upscale customers of the fiber internet service provider.

“Below the radar, we started [offering it to] higher-end customers. Now, with this development with Sky, we have to do it in a bigger way,” he said, adding they want to do it “very soon.”

READ: PCC clears PLDT takeover of Sky Cable

Sky Cable is set to sign off on Feb. 26. It will cease pay TV and cable businesses following the sale of its assets to PLDT in a P6.75-billion deal. Sky will operate solely as an internet service provider thereafter.

Romero said they were also compelled to boost the pay TV offerings of Converge given the demand from customers as well.

In 2021, Converge launched Vision, an internet protocol TV (IPTV), in partnership with affiliate cable company Pacific Kabelnet Holding Co. Inc.

Vision, BlastTV

IPTV is a way of streaming TV content via the internet. It provides up to 140 local and international channels, including PTV, TV5, GMA, Phoenix Chinese Channel, Warner TV, Nick Jr. and USA Today.

READ: Converge ventures into entertainment streaming

Last year, it also launched BlastTV, a TV streaming platform, in partnership with local media company Tap Digital Media Ventures Corp.

The streaming platform is available to all Converge subscribers for free. It is bundled with the customers’ internet deals. It has a portfolio of movies and TV series. The portal also carries sports channels such as Sports+, Golf+, Fight Ticket, Cue, BlastFC, UFC TV, Outdoor Channel and USA Today Sports.

Converge made its foray into online streaming business amid the changing viewing behavior of consumers given the rise of over-the-top platforms like Netflix and Disney+.

Previously, Converge founder Dennis Uy also hinted on making gaming products available to subscribers as the company aspires to build a digital service portfolio with a wide array of offerings.