ABS-CBN WILLING TO SPEND P5 BILLION FOR THE NATIONAL DIGITAL SHIFT!

ABS-CBN Corp. plans to raise P5 billion for the rollout of digital terrestrial television (DTT) nationwide, company officials said.Rolando Valdueza, ABS-CBN chief finance officer, said the company has spent P500 million for a movie library for digital TV."It depends on the take-up. If necessary, we will do some fund-raising if we’re going to do a nationwide rollout," Valdueza said.Valdueza said the company is hopeful the commercial rollout of the new technology could take place this year.
The implementing rules and regulations on DTT were supposed to be released in June but Malacañang directed the NTC to evaluate the standard offered by a European consortium.ABS-CBN prefers the ISDTV technology of Japan, which is being tested in Pampanga.ABS-CBN launched in April a digital TV service called DTV digibox, which aims to capture 90 percent of low-income households without cable in the country.The digibox will be serve as the viewers’ gateway to five new premium TV channels on free-to-air TV. It will be initially available in Luzon this year then in the Visayas and Mindanao next year.Digibox rates range from P1,000 to P3,000.Customer can also watch other channels like ABS-CBN Channel 2, Studio 23, NBN and GEM.Since 2007, ABS-CBN has been laying the groundwork for the new technology, the broadcaster said. The network’s DTV system in place and ready to be rolled out in the second half of the year.

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