philtechnology

In an apparent attempt to finally force the government to issue a ruling on the country’s official Digital TV (DTV) standard, broadcasting giant ABS-CBN has announced that it is pouring new investments on its new DTV initiative.

In a press statement released on Monday, May 6, the Lopez-owned firm did not mention the amount it is investing on its DTV initiative and the DTV standard it is adopting. It is common knowledge, however, that it has already invested a huge amount on the Japanese DTV standard or Integrated Service Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (ISDB-T).

ABS-CBN was prompted to invest on ISDB-T a few years back when the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) decided to adopt the ISDB-T. This ruling, however, was suspended by Malacanang after GMA-7, ABS-CBN’s bitter rival, argued that the European DTV standard, Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial 2 (DVB-T2), was better.

Despite the years that have passed, the Office of the President has not yet decided on what DTV standard the country will adopt. But, by investing anew on the ISDB-T standard, ABS-CBN seems bent on forcing Malacanang to finally issue a ruling on an issue that has hanged over a long time.

In the press statement, ABS-CBN said it has invested heavily on infrastructure and test broadcast activities in the past six years to ensure a smooth transition to DTV.,

DTV, it said, offers viewers digital clear picture and sound for all existing channels, and also more content as each network can broadcast in more than one channel.

DTT, globally considered as the future of television, was originally discussed to totally replace the existing analog broadcast transmission system in the Philippines that is plagued by issues on poor reception nationwide by 2015.

“ABS-CBN Corporation is on its way to bringing clear TV viewing to millions of Filipino households that continue to make do with poor picture and audio quality by investing in digital terrestrial television (DTV) and cable TV,” it said.

ABS-CBN DTV marketing head Miguel Mercado said 80 percent of households in the country today do not have cable TV and majority of these households belong to the DE socioeconomic class, who could not afford to subscribe to cable TV services.

Of this number, he said less than 52 percent of households receive only two channels of tolerable quality with the current analog TV transmission and it is unlikely that they will get better TV reception given the developments in urban cities that are barring TV signal transmission.

“People do not get clear reception on TV because of the buildings and billboards that create interference in the signal. They don’t have a choice and they think it is because of their old TV sets,” he said.

“Digital terrestrial television will diminish the effect of development in the transmission of content and help the government fulfill its mandate of providing citizens access to information as it enables them to view more channels clearly.”

However, Mercado said only 20 percent of Filipino households have cable and they are the only ones who enjoy clear picture and audio quality as opposed to the experience of the majority of Filipinos.

He said this is ABS-CBN’s biggest motivation in preparing for DTV.

“All the network’s efforts of producing world class programs are for naught if the content cannot be viewed and appreciated in its true value, if it even reaches the people at all. But the main reason we continue to innovate is to give the people a choice, an access to a wealth of information and entertainment that analog transmission simply cannot address very well,” he said.

PLDT recently launched another new app to keep people even more connected with friends and family: heyÜ, an all-in call service from PLDT that connects one through the Internet and lets subscribers make NDD or IDD calls to other devices at low rates.

Putting a face to this new app is heyÜ brand ambassador hunkie Brazilian Japanese model Daniel Matsunaga who was among the first users of the app and who was raving about it at the launch. The 24-year-old Daniel shares, “I’ve lived here in the Philippines since I was 16 years old. Constant communication is really important to me especially because most of my family is in Brazil. I speak to my mom every day.”

Aw. But enough of dreamy Daniel and more of how you can benefit from heyÜ, too:

1. It keeps you connected.
heyÜ is open for Android devices such as telpads, tablets, and smartphones that is why people using it, or those who has been making calls from heyÜ user to another.

“I have a really hectic and active lifestyle, lalo na this year A lot of good things are happening especially in my acting career. With heyÜ, I can always find time for communication because it’s so simple to use,” Matsunaga shares.

All you need to do is register your details at pldthome.com/heyu, then download this new cool app from http://www.pldteshop.com or Google Play Store, and plug in the username and password provided by PLDT and you are ready to go.

2. Its free!
heyÜ lets users make and receive calls from anywhere as long as there is an internet connection. For PLDT Telpad subscribers, they can easily make that free call from their heyÜ app to another heyÜ user or even PLDT landline through their Android devices.

“heyÜ subscribers get best value for their money because it combines the best things about digital and traditional communication platforms,” head of PLDT HOME Voice Solutions Patrick Tang says. “heyÜ is what PLDT envisions communication to be: simple, fast and reliable.”

Moreover, heyÜ also offers calls to Smart, Sun, and Talk n’ Text numbers for a minimum fee of PhP5.00 per minute.  Existing PLDT landline subscribers however need a monthly add-on of PhP100 to enjoy HeyÜ.

From left: PLDT heyÜ brand ambassador Daniel Matsunaga; EVP-Head of PLDT HOME Business Ariel Fermin; Head of PLDT HOME Product Development Nilo Castañeda; and Head of PLDT HOME Voice Solutions Patrick Tang. Photo by Analy Labor, InterAksyon.com.

3. Low rates for overseas call.
Thinking of calling your loved ones abroad, well heyÜ give you just that as it provides subscribers the lowest PLDT rates for international calls, PhP1.50 per minute for calls to US, Canada and Hawaii.

4. Multiple heyÜ accounts for PLDT subscribers
In one household, there is already a mix of people wanting to stay connected. That is why PLDT home saw this as a need for more accountss even if that house only has one landline number.

What more, PLDT Home hopes that the app will become viral through the sociable youth and also through the fact that one PLDT subscriber can have as many as five heyÜ accounts.

5. More features to come.
“This is just the first phase, because this is an app, we will have later on video calling instant messaging and even file transfer protocol,” promises Tang.  The PLDT group is working on having pictures sent, low rate calls to other countries abroad , and many more innovations that we can all enjoy through this app.