THE Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) Group’s direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service will be commercially launched tomorrow, July 14, which coincides with the 63rd birthday of its chief Manuel V.  Pangilinan.

“What better way to celebrate his birthday than to launch another first from PLDT,” said a source privy to the details of the issue.

The DTH offering, dubbed Cignal, will be operated by MediaScape Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of MediaQuest Inc., which, in turn, is owned by the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund (BTF).

A pilot test of the DTH service started a couple of months ago. Cignal, according to MediaQuest president Orlando Vea, has been doing very well. In fact, it is adding more high-definition channels, he said.

“Our HD channel offering started with only two channels. Thousands of viewers watched the recent NBA [National Basketball Association]  finals in crisp and clear quality on Cignal HD. We are adding more channels on HD to heed viewer demand,” said Vea. Subscription of the service is now at around 3,000.

On top of the two HD channels, Cignal also offers 20 channels in standard definition.

The monthly service fee costs only P390, which is cheaper compared with cable TV service, which ranges from P450 to as much as P1,200 a month.

“For the basic package, we are experiencing very encouraging takeup in our target market. We will also add more standard channels to our lineup. Cignal will be a winner for MediaScape,” added Vea.

Cignal DTH service is initially available in some areas in Luzon where cable TV service is not yet possible.  “We are starting with ‘uncabled’ areas, or those areas that have no cable TV offering, so that we could already have a captured market,” added the official.

MediaScape spent P650 million as initial investment but Vea said additional expenses will be made for future requirements, such as purchase of settop boxes and provision for additional content.

HD shows are best watched over HDTV to capture the cinema-like viewing. HDTVs are currently expensive but Vea expects the decreasing price of widescreen TV could soon drive up subscription to the DTH service.