Converge ICT Solutions Inc. said it plans to disrupt the Philippine pay television market with a nationwide direct-to-home satellite TV service, set for launch within 2024.
Dennis Anthony Uy, Converge co-founder and chief executive, told reporters the enterprise is 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.
This positions the enterprise directly against established players like Cignal and Global Satellite (GSAT) services.
“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.
In 2021 Converge 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 NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, MGM Television, and Lionsgate.
Converge earlier reported net income of P6.26 billion from January to September last year, four higher than only P6.1 billion in the same period last year.
Consolidated revenue grew 7.2 percent to P26.2 billion in the nine-month period from P24.5 billion last year.
Residential business grew 5.2 percent to P22.5 billion from P21.4 billion a year earlier. Converge reported a total 2.04 million subscribers as of end-September 2023.
Enterprise revenue rose 21.1 percent to P3.8 billion from P3.1 billion last year owing to the double-digit growths across all enterprise segments, with the small and medium enterprise segment growing as much as 37.9 percent from the same period last year.
