PHILIPPINE CABLE TELEVISION ASSOCIATION, INC. CABLE LINE Headline: PCTA BOARD MEMBERS TOOK OATH SEPT - OCT 2012 Inside: NC II National Competency Assessment and Certification VOLUME 12 Examination ISSUE 5 The Official Newsletter of the PHILIPPINE CABLE TELEVISION ASSOCIATION, INC. Editor’s Note Amelita G. Ledesma It is already the start of the “BER” months ity has been set back and efforts to move and we should be looking forward and pre- forward are stalled many times. Our country paring for a hopefully peaceful and joyous happens to be in the path of typhoons and Christmas but advisories of more storms till so are our neighboring countries and there the end of the year seem to dampen the is nothing we can do about that. Added to spirit. that is the fact that the world is experiencing climate change. Experiences and stories of devastated lives and homes caused by the recent disas- What we can only do is to minimize the im- ters (some areas are still in deep waters pact on us in ways that we can have control and many are still in evacuation centers) over- in our own home, offices, and com- abound. Relief operations undertaken by munities. Let the government do its own big government agencies, and well-meaning jobs on infrastructure and let us do our part in organizations and individuals give tem- our own small but highly effective and long- porary alleviation. PCTA extended help to lasting ways of influencing people’s mindset members who by themselves undertook and behaviour. their own relief operations in their areas (such as Laguna, Bulacan and Pampanga). God bless us all! But as often said and feared, ‘how can lives and opportunities be rebuilt?’ Productiv- D I S C L A I M E R The opinions, views and/or contents expressed in the articles, contributions, or paid advertisements of Cable Line are exclusively that of their author or originator, and do not necessarily reflect the position or stand of Philippine Cable Television Association , Inc. SEPT - OCT 2012 3 CABLE LINE PCTA BOARD MEMBERS TOOK OATH by Anne B. Manalansan n spite of the inclement weather brought on by (Global Cable Inc.), Amelita Ledesma (Skycable), Arnel monsoon rain, the members of the PCTA board of Merilleno (Cablelink and Holdings Inc.), Victoriano Sy Sr. Idirectors trooped to the Coconut Palace in Pasay City (Marbel Services and TV System Inc.), and Cedric Sazon last August 6, 2012 to renew their oath of office with Vice (Kalibo Cable TV Network Inc.). The other members President Jejomar C. Binay administering the oath. of the board who were unable to attend due to other commitments were Chairman Engr. Elpidio Paras (Parasat The board members, led by President Allan Dungao Cable), Vice President-Luzon Dr. Venancio Lo (Romblon (Satellite Cable Network, Inc.), include Vice Chairman Jose Cable Corp.), Treasurer Rodrigo Montinola (Skycable), Lobregat (FUBC), Vice President-Visayas Atty. Goering and Director Antonio Selda (Wesfardell Cable Services). Paderanga (Misamis CATV Network), Vice President- Mindanao Engr. Romeo Zerrudo (Zenergy CATV Network), After the induction ceremony, the group proceeded to Corporate Secretary Engr. Joseph Arguelles (Asian Vision have a simple dinner at the Golden Bay Restaurant to Cable Holdings Inc.), Directors Lorlyn Garcia-Velarde celebrate the occasion. 4 SEPT - OCT 2012 The Official Newsletter of the PHILIPPINE CABLE TELEVISION ASSOCIATION, INC. Of Natural Calamities and Other Matters by Allan P. Dungao The recent calamity that struck our country was Plaza Hotel. really one that we will have a hard time forgetting in a -0- long while. The non-stop rain brought on by monsoon Last August 23-24, the PCTA technical committee wind brought destruction to large areas of Central and conducted technical seminars in Cagayan de Oro City, Southern Luzon in so short a time, allowing people which is the first for this year. There will be others to be enough time only to save their lives. When the rain held in Kalibo, Aklan (Visayas); Quezon Province (South finally stopped, reports on the destruction of properties, Luzon); and possibly Pampanga (North Luzon) within agriculture, and infrastructure came in and right away, the year. The PCTA has been conducting the technical we know that we really need to help. seminars for the past 17 years and since year 2000, at least three seminars were conducted every year. Kudos Previously, the PCTA board had approved a to Engr. Julian Ventura for his untiring work in making the budget for undertaking activities that will extend help to technical seminar an institution in the cable industry. people in calamity-stricken areas, through the assistance of our member cable companies in those areas. It was Another project that we are looking into is the therefore easy for us to decide what we are going to do. proposed memorandum of Agreement between PCTA We prepared 300 packs of relief goods which we divided and the Institute of Electronics and Communications and distributed to three areas – one in Laguna and two Engineering Professionals (IECEP) wherein engineering in Pampanga. The relief goods in Laguna were endorsed practitioners will earn CPE points when they attend any to Mr. Boy Opiña of Royal Cablevision who is operating of the PCTA technical seminars. If this pushes thru, the in Cabuyao and Sta. Rosa, Laguna, and in Pampanga, we participation of ECEs and even students will enhance endorsed them to Mr. Jess Nicdao of Sattlink Cable TV in their knowledge about the cable TV industry. Guagua and to Ms. Alma Talavera of Datalsat Cable TV in Apalit. Our association also distributed relief goods in an In addition, our indefatigable technical evacuation site in Pampanga where around 230 families committee chair, Engr. Zerrudo, has been tirelessly are staying in tents provided by Shelter Box Foundation. working on another important project that will benefit Hopefully, our donation will really help those people as our technical personnel – the accreditation of technical they start the process of rebuilding their lives. personnel by TESDA. He was able to complete the first -0- leg for Mindanao last July, and two more are scheduled Last August 30, we attended the first hearing of to be held in Cebu City and Quezon Province soon. Our the proposed Cable Theft Bill conducted by the Senate hats off to Engr. Zerrudo and the technical committee Committee on Public Information and Mass Media. engineers for making this project a reality. During the hearing, we requested the committee to fast -0- track the procedure and ensure the passage of the bill I’m happy to inform everyone that the electronic into law. In our position paper, we also expressed our copy of the Cable Line is now available at the PCTA support to the bills authored by Senators Juan Ponce website, www.pcta.org.ph. We will still have the printed Enrile, Manny Villar, and Chiz Escudero, which contain copy every two months but this latest development will our sentiments and concerns. ensure that all our members and other stakeholders of -0- the cable TV industry will have access to Cable Line no Regarding the 25th anniversary of the PCTA, the matter where they are. celebration party will take place on October 23 instead of October 10, and will still be held at the Sofitel Philippine SEPT - OCT 2012 5 CABLE LINE QUO Vadis... Cable Guys? by Engr. Elpidio M. Paras “MVP: Telcos will be obsolete; Social Media is the Future”. this scenario has limited the capability of many to finance major upgrading of their outside infrastructure and deploy This was the banner at Rappler.com, an emerging web other value added services. based news platform which has lately been making waves among opinion makers and bloggers. In fact, outside of Metro Manila and other key cities of the country, the ARPU (Annual Revenue Per User) has not Is this the writing on the wall and the death knell for the even breached Php4,000 per subscriber. The only way for wireline business of telcos? an operator to start charging extra for more content is to upgrade their networks for added bandwidth and to digitize Indeed, the face of traditional telecommunications is their signals. rapidly evolving from being an infrastructure and telephony services provider into a diverse conglomerate with For those that have gambled early on by deploying cable interests in converged services, traditional print media, TV modems and addressable systems, their increased and radio broadcasting, film and content distribution and revenue has allowed them to move into the digital era, the rising star of social media. thus increasing their potential to earn more. Google, Skype, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, are With the deployment of high speed broadband internet rapidly evolving social media giants of the web which now and tiered video services using digital technology, involve the use of “Over The Top” technologies, effectively Skycable has overcome its issues with program piracy bypassing the core businesses of telcos. Skype, Google and has finally started generating reasonable profit in Talk for example, enable anyone to communicate to the the last five years. Due to its positive financials, Sky has outside world using VOIP technology, without spending taken on the opportunity of controlling the Metro Manila per minute charges, which have long been the “bread and cable TV landscape by acquiring its nearest rival, Destiny butter” of phone companies. Cable. It would be no surprise if in due time, another major acquisition will be in the offing, as future ARPU figures will In a recent survey made in the United States, major surely be attainable. telcos like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, have consistently been reporting declines in wireline voice services revenue. Although wireless voice (gsm) connections are still Since the last decade, the PCTA has long espoused the growing, revenue has plateaued as the players offer cut upgrading of networks for two-way, the use of conditional price promos for unlimited service nationwide.