SkyCable apologizes to TV5 over signal loss

MANILA, Philippines – Power failure and equipment malfunction. These two caused the signal losses experienced on December 13, 2014 by SkyCable subscribers.

TV5 filed a complaint against SkyCable for failing to air its program for more than two hours that day. TV5 is a unit of MediaQuest Holdings Incorporated owned by dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), and a sister company of rival cable provider Cignal Digital TV.

SkyCable explained that the signal loss on December 13 lasted only for 7 minutes and was caused by the power outage in Metro Manila.

“We wish to expound that the signal loss was due to a power fluctuation that affected all our channels in Metro Manila, at 2:13 pm of December 13. By 2:20 pm, we were able to restart our equipment in order to restore the channels,” the company said in a statement.

However, TV5 said total off-air time was from 2:10:20 to 4:47:55 or 2 hours, 37 minutes, and 35 seconds. Thus TV5 filed a complaint before the National Telecommunications Commission, said Dan De Padua, head of programming of TV5.

De Padua said TV5 viewers also experienced erratic airing when TV5 on SkyCable fluctuated and was interchanged with AksyonTV.

SjyCable apologized but said the signal loss of TV5 was caused by the equipment provided by network. “SkyCable wishes to clarify that any extended signal loss of TV5 was due to the fact that the set-top box that they provided to us defaulted to AksyonTV not TV5 once equipment were restarted,” the cable TV provider said.

“We will work with the NTC and TV5 to prevent similar occurrences in the future,” it said.

SkyCable subscribers are also urged to immediately report signal disruptions to allow technical teams to immediately resolve cable TV problems. – Rappler.com