Cignal Digital TV owner Manuel Pangilinan told reporters they expect to hit one million subscribers by the end of 2015 after registering 845,000 subscribers as of the end of last year.
The company’s biggest competitor is Sky Cable Corp., the pay TV arm of ABS-CBN Corp. Sky Cable reportedly has a current subscriber base of 800,000 and is targeting to hit one million subscribers in two years’ time.
In 2013 Cignal introduced Cignal TV-To-Go, which allows viewers to watch real-time broadcast feeds of Cignal channels on their broadband-connected smartphones or tablets.
With the introduction of this new offering, Cignal said it expects to attract 100,000 additional subscribers this year.
Cignal-TV-To-Go represents the PLDT Group’s first multimedia, multi-screen answer to evolve side-by-side with technology and the growing needs of its subscribers.
Cignal is owned by MediaScape, a wholly owned subsidiary of MediaQuest Holdings Inc. under the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund.
Meanwhile, Cignal’s Over-The-Top service currently brings 13 premium channels to smartphones and tablets.
The beta phase is offered free of charge to all Cignal postpaid subscribers who have Android devices on the broadband networks of Smart Communications and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).
Cignal now claims to be the Philippines’ premier subscription-based direct-to-home satellite television provider that offers high-definition TV and superior audio.
At present, Cignal’s subscriber makeup is 80-percent prepaid and 20-percent postpaid.
For subscribers to receive Cignal broadcasts, they must acquire upon subscription the satellite dish antenna, remote control and the set-top box or integrated receiver-decoder.
Cignal’s prepaid electronic loading system is powered by the prepaid loading platform of Smart Communications, which forms part of the PLDT Group.
Cignal Digital TV uses the DVB-S2 digital television broadcast standard to accommodate standard-definition and high-definition television broadcasts, as well as interactive services offered on its satellite TV service.
