Converge ICT Solutions Inc. said over the weekend it plans to disrupt the Philippine pay television market with a nationwide direct-to-home satellite TV service set for launch in 2024.
Converge co-founder and chief executive Dennis Anthony Uy told reporters the company was testing its satellite direct-to-home (DTH) TV service.
Satellite DTH delivers video via radio waves received through a satellite dish, usually placed on top of the house. “We have a direct to home franchise already, and we need to open that soon, maybe within the year,” Uy said.
The move positions them directly against established players like Cignal and Global Satellite (GSAT).
“Traditional pay TV is sunset already. You need to go to OTT [over-the-top], streaming, IPTV [Internet Protocol TV]. That’s the pay TV direction,” Uy said.
Converge in 2021 launched Vision, a new all-in-one home entertainment add-on service powered by its pure fiber broadband network in partnership with Pacific Kabelnet Holding Co. Inc. (PKN).
The company also offers BLASTTV, a streaming platform that showcases an extensive content library of TV shows and exclusive channels. BlastTV’s global content partners include NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, MGM Television and Lionsgate.
Converge earlier reported a net income of P6.26 billion from January to September 2023, up by 4 percent from P6.1 billion in the same period in 2022.
Consolidated revenues grew 7.2 percent to P26.2 billion in the nine-month period from P24.5 billion a year earlier.
Residential business rose 5.2 percent to P22.5 billion from P21.4 billion. The company recorded a total of 2.04 million subscribers as of end-September 2023.
Enterprise revenues went up 21.1 percent to P3.8 billion from P3.1 billion on the back of the double-digit growths across all enterprise segments, with the small and medium enterprise segment growing 37.9 percent from a year earlier.