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By Darwin G. Amojelar Reporter
A unit of the Philippine Long
Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has obtained a license from the
National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to operate
direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service nationwide.
In an order, the NTC said it
granted a certificate of public convenience to GV Broadcasting
System Inc. to install, operate and maintain a nationwide TV
satellite system.
“Considering that the applicant
has been in operation for several years and is a grantee of [a]
legislative franchise by virtue of Republic Act No. 8169 upon which
[the certificate of public convenience] may be predicated upon and
that it has complied with the Broadcast Technical Standards, [GV
Broadcasting] is qualified for the grant of [the said certficate],”
the NTC said.
GV Broadcasting has a
congressional franchise to install, maintain and operate nationwide
broadcasting stations and such other systems, facilities or
structures for origination, reception, processing, and broadcast of
audio or video information.
The NTC said GV Broadcasting was
found to be legally, financially and technically qualified for the
service.
As of last year, the company had
128 corporate subscribers.
Last year, MediaQuest purchased
GV Broadcasting. MediaQuest is a wholly owned subsidiary of the PLDT
Beneficial Trust Fund.
The acquisition of GV
Broadcasting will harmonize PLDT’s foray into mobile TV, Internet
Protocol TV and DTH service.
PLDT’s entry into the DTH
business would provide competition to Dream Satellite. Dream, owned
by former PLDT chairman Antonio Cojuangco through Philippine
Multi-Media System Inc. (PMSI), has about 100,000 subscribers
nationwide. PMSI is under corporate rehabilitation with outstanding
liabilities amounting to P1.15 billion.
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