MVP: Convergence is the way to go

MANILA, Philippines – Hot on the heels of the ABS-CBN Corp. and Globe Telecom Inc. convergence partnership, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said his group is working toward the same deal.

“We have already thought about it even before the partnership happened between Globe and ABS-CBN, what steps we should take. The development of PLDT is such that the process is still achieving multimedia platforms for the group as a whole not just as a telecom company,” he said during PLDT’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Friday, June 14.

On May 28, Lopez-led ABS-CBN and Ayala-led Globe signed an agreement, marking the convergence of their media and telecommunications businesses.

The network sharing deal allows ABS-CBN to distribute its content using Globe’s mobile network.

“Globe will provide capacity and coverage on its existing cellular mobile telephony network to ABS-CBN on a nationwide basis. The parties may also share assets such as servers, towers, and switches,” said Rolando Valdueza, ABS-CBN’s group chief finance officer, said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

PLDT’s media arm, MediaQuest Holdings Inc., which acquired third-liner ABC Development Corp, the operator of TV5, in 2009 had eyed GMA Network Inc., the country’s second-biggest media group.

However, talks between the Pangilinan group and GMA’s triumvirate owners fell through in 2012. 

Pangilinan said this would not affect his group’s convergence strategy.

“The PLDT group continues to believe that owning, producing and providing content across multiple platforms is an important component of its blueprint for growth and as such, intends to pursue its media strategy by building on Mediaquest’s current investments,” he said then.

Pangilinan announced they would pour more funds into TV5. He said they earmarked P6 billion for capital expenditures in 2013. The amount would go to new programs and a state-of-the-art media center in Mandaluyong City.

PLDT’s move into multimedia services seeks to take advantage of its extensive and robust fixed and mobile platforms to deliver digital media content such as photos and video through various devices including PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets and smart TVs.

Pangilinan said they had double-digit growth in 2012 revenues, and are expecting similar growth rates in the coming years.

“Growth comes from the broadband, data business and a surprising growth in mobile Internet as well as a pleasant growth in the home. Mobile Internet and phone business in PLDT are doing quite well and better than expected,” he noted.

Ramon Isberto, PLDT public affairs head, said it is too early to say what kind of competition the Globe and ABS-CBN convergence deal would provide.

“It’s too early to say because we still don’t know what ABS-CBN and Globe have to offer. We will have our own offerings. The important thing to consider is you need to combine not only content but also the network to have a good customer experience,” he said on the sidelines of PLDT’s annual stockholders’ meeting.

He said PLDT would focus on providing content that could reach all devices.

“If you have nice videos but your device or your ‘network’ can’t handle it, what I can say is that in the PLDT group, you have the combination of resources that can generate the content and also deliver it to the customers on many different platforms because our network would be able to deliver that traffic because of the modernization.” – Rappler.com