Sky Cable buys Destiny Cable, SBC and UNI

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief May 12, 2012 · 1 min read

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Sky Cable has recently announced it is buying competing cable TV and internet provider Destiny Cable as well as Solid Broadband Company and UNI-Cable TV.

This makes Sky Cable and even bigger and more dominant player in the cable TV market. Sky Cable currently has around half a million subscribers in the Philippines. It’s unknown how many are internet subscribers.

All existing subscribers of Destiny Cable, SBC and Uni-Cable will continue using their existing subscriptions and channels as well as monthly fees. Sky Cable plans to roll out their service later on (probably once subs are up for their annual renewals). Destiny Cable is the 2nd largest direct-to-home cable TV provider.

The entire deal is estimated to cost Sky Cable a whooping Php3 billion.

Solid Broadband Corp. is part of the Solid Group that also owns MyDestiny and MyPhone.

React to this article:

Cable Companies Philippines Destiny Cable Philippines Cable Industry SBC Purchase Sky Cable Acquisition Sky Cable Destiny Cable Merger Sky Cable Expansion Telecommunications Mergers TV Cable Market Philippines UNI Purchase

Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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116 Comments

Benjo · 14 years ago

I can’t help but grit my teeth with dismay. I have been a mydestiny subscriber for more than 6 years, i think.

Since Sky bought SBC, my connection gets unstable/unusable every 9 AM up to 5-7PM every day!

Their hotline is reachable, but all agents are always busy. Believe you me, for a total of about two weeks, I have been trying to call them every day, and never reached a human on the other side.

For mydestiny internet would-be subscribers in Marikina, stay away!!!

Tado Kareen · 13 years ago

Magtagalog k na lng kasi…

Jojo Marababol · 14 years ago

SO this means that once Sky buys Destiny then that makes Cable TV a MONOPOLY by SkyCable. I used to have a choice between Sky, Destiny and HomeCable long ago. Initially I had HomeCable because they were the cheapest and offered channels like HBO, Discovery, etc as part of their package unlike Sky that you had to pay extra and they were very expensive. When Sky bought HomeCable, I switched to Destiny …. now Sky is eating and monopolizing cablTV. Who do I run to now? I do not like Sky because they are so greedy. Their cheapest plan lacks A LOT of nice channels. Besides they are doing extra business by selling their digiboxes which means you have to pay extra to get their service and that box is a unsightly device. I just want to plug my HD-ready TV directly with no add-on attachments. Sky sucks!

Rex_Sibuyan · 14 years ago

How about G-Sat DTH Satellite TV diba pag-aari din yan ng Global Destiny Cable? Magkakaroon narin kaya sila ng ANC, Teleradyo sa CH LINEUP nila? Good thing kung magkaroon kasi pangit ang cable provider dito sa probinsya ko… Di ko rin gusto ang Cgnal becoz of annoying CIGNAL LOGO. DREAM SAT naman pangit ang video quality although OK naman ang CH Line-up. Pero gusto ko talaga magkaroon ng ANC, Cinema One, MYX at Teleradyo ang G-SAT.

cybertrasher · 14 years ago

CABLELINK PACKAGE

Cablelink Basic Package P495

Channel Lineup Basic Package
2 Skedlink
3 RHTV
4 Digital Preview Channel
5 Community Channel
6 Zoob TV (De La Salle Zobel)
7 Tamaraws FEU Channel
8 ABS-CBN
9 PTV
10 TV5
11 AksyonTV
12 GMA
13 GMA News TV
14 Talk TV
15 IBC
16 Studio 23
17 Net 25
18 HLN
19 CNN International
20 BBC World News
21 Channel News Asia
22 Bloomberg
23 Discovery Kids
24 Nickelodeon
25 Disney Channel
26 Cartoon Network
27 Disney Junior
28 STAR World
29 Fox
30 WarnerTV
31 Universal Channel
32 Diva Universal
33 E!
34 ETC
35 2ndavenue
36 Jack TV
37 The Game Channel
38 AXN
39 beTV
40 Chase
41 Living Asia Channel
42 truTV
43 History
44 Bio
45 Crime & Investigation Network
46 HBO
47 STAR Movies
48 MGM Channel
49 Viva Cinema
50 Pinoy Box Office
51 Fox Filipino
52 ESPN
53 STAR Sports
54 Solar Sports
55 Pinoy Extreme
56 Animal Planet
57 Nat Geo Wild
58 National Geographic Channel
59 Discovery Channel
60 Discovery Turbo
61 Discovery Travel & Living Channel
62 Fashion TV/SLBN
63 MTV Southeast Asia
64 VOA
65 Australia Network
66 NHK World
67 CCTV-4
68 Arirang TV
69 KBS World
70 YTN
71 DD National/Zee Smile
72 TVE
73 DW-TV Asien
74 EWTN
75 SMNI
76 GEM TV
77 UNTV
78 Smile of a Child TV/JCTV
93 CCTN
94 TBN
95 GEO News
96 TV5MONDE Asie
99 Rai Italia
100 Peace TV
101 Dubai TV
102 Sahara Filmy
103 RCTI
104 Phoenix Chinese Channel
105 Hunan TV
106 Azio TV

SD PACK ONE P150
[*]Fox Crime
[*]Thrill
[*]Kix
[*]Discovery Science

SD PACK TWO P150
[*]Fox Family Movies
[*]TCM
[*]Kids Co.
[*]Baby TV
[*]Discovery Home and Health

SD PACK THREE P150
[*]Fox News
[*]Aljazeera
[*]Screen Red
[*]tvN
[*]Star Chinese Movies

SD Full Pack P300
[*]Fox Crime
[*]Fox News
[*]Fox Family Movies
[*]TCM
[*]Thrill
[*]Kix
[*]Screen Red
[*]Star Chinese Movies
[*]tvN
[*]Discovery Science
[*]Discovery Home and Health
[*]Kids Co.
[*]Baby TV
[*]Aljazeera

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[*]National Geographic Channel HD
[*]Baby TV HD
[*]Nat Geo Adventure HD
[*]Fox Crime HD
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[*]Fox News HD
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[*]Fashion One HD
[*]Outdoor Channel HD
[*]Nat Geo Adventure HD
[*]National Geographic Channel HD
[*]Star World HD

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Cablelink is Available in:
Las PiÃ±as City
Muntinlupa City
ParaÃ±aque City
Taguig City
Pasay City – Expanding
Pasig City – Expanding
Mandaluyong City – Expanding
Pateros Area
Manila – Expanding
Quezon City – Expanding
Bacoor Cavite
Imus Cavite
Tarlac – Concepcion Area

Upcoming Soon Areas:
Makati City
Marikina
San Juan City
Caloocan
Valenzuela
Malabon
Navotas
Rizal Areas
Bulacan

triggertrick · 14 years ago

Finally, an alternative to Destiny & Sky. Nice channel line up. Kelan kaya sa Mandaluyong?

Jojo Marababol · 14 years ago

Is this a new cable TV provider? How much is their monthly and how reliable is their cable signal connection?

Where are they based? Meron ba silang presence sa Q.C.? This could be my alternative.

meh · 14 years ago

skybroadband in the philippines sucks so much. They use some sort of squid proxy so you load from their proxy instead of the real internet making it super slow. Also it seems the dns is blocking things or failing 80% of the time.

Its horrible for the cost

roiji · 14 years ago

oo nga.
at kahit yung mga CS nila hindi alam na naka proxy sila eh…
mabilis nga di naman constant.

simplynice93 · 14 years ago

This is the current thread in businesses throughout the country. Big corporations buying their competitor by offering huge amount of money. Unfortunately, there is no law that prohibits a company from acquiring its competitor and monopolizing the market. Sad for loyal Destiny subscribers like myself that the company is not as loyal to its subscribers…

roiji · 14 years ago

so with this merger sana naman pwede nang mag offer ng (Global-) Destiny cable dito sa HULO, Mandaluyong area namin — na teritoryo daw ng Sky Cable kaya di nila ako makonektahan.

Frankly ayoko sa Sky Cable
(1) Skipping video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLPaehNB3Ag This doesn’t happen sa Global-Destiny Cable (magiging noisy lang yung video but you can still hear the sound)
(2) need pa ng DigiBox. Nakakadagdag din siya sa kuryente kahit papano. Plus aksaya sa saksakan at wala pang SLEEP!! — which means hahanapin mo pa ulit yung remote ng TV (aside sa hawak mong remote ng DigiBox) para patayin yung TV.
(3) Madalas pag-ON mo nung DigiBox nakalagay ‘not authorized to view’ (or something) kahit na LOCAL channels ako naglipat.
(4) Pag umuulan nagiging ‘not authorized’ bigla yung pinapanood mong LOCAL channel!
(5) Customer service http://blog.roiji.info/sky-cable-customer-service-lol

cybertrasher · 14 years ago

The Secret of Skycable Digibox Configuration and Troubleshooting

Skycable Digibox Configuration and Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Guide

Common Problem of Digibox:
E04 Please insert smart card
E05 Unknown smart card
E06 Smart card failure

Try any of the following:
Pull-out and re-insert the smart card
Wipe the microchip of the card with a dry fabric
Gently move the card in and out for several times
Slightly scratch the microchip with pencil eraser
Reset your digital box by turning it off and pulling out the plug

E16 Service is currently scrambled

Try either of the following:
Pull-out and re-insert the card
If there’s a Music Note Symbol on your TV screen, just press the Music Note button on your remote control below the EPG button.

E48 No signal
E52 Searching for signal

Try either of the following:
Check and secure the connections of your digital box.
Reset your digital box by turning it off and pulling out the plug.
Check the connection of your Coax Cable if loose connection.

E50 No service available

Try either of the following:
Check and secure the connections of your digital box.
Check the connection of your Coax Cable if loose connection.
Re-scan/Re-program your digital box by doing the following:

This Guide How to Configuration of your Digibox:

– Step 1 – Press “Menu” button.
– Step 2 – Move to ” Installation ” using Ch+ or Ch- then press “OK”
– Step 3 – Press four Zero’s ( 0000/Default password )
– Step 4 – Move to “Restore Default”
– Step 5 – Press OK button twice (2X)
– Step 6 – Move to “Manual Install/Manual Scan” then press “OK”
– Step 7 – Set frequency to “447/633”
– Step 8 – Check the Signal and Quality
– Step 9 – Move to “Search Mode” and set it to “NIT”
– Step 10 – Move to “Start Search”
– Step 11 – Press “OK” (Scanning / Searching will start)
– Step 12 – Press “OK”
– Step 13 – Press Menu 3x or press Exit once the scanning is complete
– Step 14 – Setting is now complete

Skycable they are using DVB-C Standard for Digital Cable System.

Do it your self: Watch this Video how to Configuration of skycable Digibox sundan na lang yung Instructions sa Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yQLPQwtHY9E

Yumi · 14 years ago

1. This happens to us every time Eat Bulaga airs on GMA. Not only when raining. Also, it’s not just skipping videos. Most of the time there’s the “No signal” or “Not authorized” pag Eat Bulaga. I also notice some skipping pag late night public affairs shows na. Pero pag sa ABS-CBN it stays clear and the signal is stable kahit umulan.

2. This is the thing I hate the most on sky’s digitization. Read on the manual that our digibox consumes 40w on sleep mode. That’s equivalent to the electricity consumption of 2-3 cfl bulbs.

3 and 4. Whenever there’s a “Not authorized” message on every channel (not only GMA) what I do is just hard reboot the digibox.

5. So far, no bad experiences from customer service for me. Medyo nalito lang kami sa 1st month bill namin kasi di exactly 800 pesos. Pero nalinaw naman agad.

roiji · 14 years ago

re:3 and 4. hindi ba nakakapagod mag hard reset 3 times an hour only to wait a further 15 minutes before the signal comes back? hindi ko na naeenjoy yung pinapanood ko eh.. twice a quarter this happens. hindi na lang ako nanonood afterwards…

Yumi · 14 years ago

Perhaps yours is an isolated case? Or may problem dyan sa location niyo? Sobrang minsan lang kasi ako makaexperience ng ganyan. And everytime mangyayari yan sa amin, kaka-on lang ng TV and digibox sa umaga so madali lang tanggalin sa saksakan yung digibox.

Kung madalas nangyayari yan, you should contact skycable so they can fix it.

roiji · 14 years ago

sana nga isolated case.
ayoko kausapin CS nila.
paiikutin lang ako, sinasayang lang oras ko.
antayin ko na lang maging available yung Destiny cable dito. Mas marami pang channels. di pa kailangan ng digibox.
unless gagawin din nilang digital din yung Destiny –then that would be crap.

joey · 14 years ago

the best ang destiny. may history channel and natgeo. san wag palitan ng sky ang line up. at mura pa talaga.

joey · 14 years ago

the best ang destiny. may history channel and natgeo. sana wag palitan ng sky ang line up. at mura pa talaga.

memedroid · 14 years ago

and the MONOPOLY begins!

LOPEZ GAHAMAN · 14 years ago

Wala ng kumpetisyon! Bibilhin na rin namin ang GLOBE sa susunod! Humanda kayo! Tatanggalin na
rin namin ang free tv in the next 5 years!

loadex · 14 years ago

Baka naman Destiny offered themselves for M&A. Not to defend the Lopez, pero minsan yun company na binili ang nag-offer ng sarili nila.

Maybe Destiny owners wants to cash in their investment and out of the cable business.

Or maybe, Destiny is losing money and want to recoup some of it through selling Destiny and stop the bleeding.

Iyan Sommerset · 14 years ago

Cable tv…why bother when you can just watch anything and everything online, or download them from the net?

jok · 14 years ago

Ian, pre – kaw isa sa mga pinakamatalino dito. Bakit nga ba manonood pa sa cable. Mag 5mbps na lang kayo na DSL.

Mr. Curious · 14 years ago

That’s actually the best comment in this thread BUT

Mr. Curious · 14 years ago

I’am now opt to make full preparations for Diablo 3 and with that comes my focus on making my internet connection exclusive only for Diablo 3 especially right now that sir abe posted that Diablo 3 do requires a fast, low latency internet connection to run it smoothly

Mr.know-it-all · 14 years ago

Skycable install fee cost 2000 but u can opt out to pay 1k up front then the other 1k will be included on ur bill divided in 4 months, plus 15php interest, say u applied for the basic pack, u’ll initial cash out 1k, then ur package cost 280, so thats 280+250+15=545, thats ur monthly bill for 4mos, it will be 280 on the fifth mo

pabs · 14 years ago

I don’t need those cable tv’s now, as long as I have a good internet connection. I seldom watch tv now, I’m glued at my pc and laptop, tablet and smartphone. When I do need to watch tv , then the free channels come handy.

Mr.Know-it-all · 14 years ago

Havent u guys read article in trusted sites? The service will continue as it is, even the monthly and channel line up. Do ur research first b4 complaining, if u want the monthly to be deduce? Then complain to ntc1. They’re the one who passed a circular for all broadcasting companies to convert analog service to digital that made prices of cable packages went up, just so u know, converting of svc way costly, it meant to replace all the analog facilities to digital ones, that’s why destiny has been sold, hndi nla kyang idigitize ang svc nla dahil malaki ang magagagastos nila.

showbiz · 14 years ago

It’s good for the business but very bad for the consumers.

lbj · 14 years ago

yung destiny ang nabili. eh global destiny yun diba nun mag merge? sino bumili ng global cable

Enya · 14 years ago

280 lang Skycable ko a month tapos 500 ang Destiny! Alin po ang sinasabi nyong mas mahal? Tapos digital pa ang feed-mas malinaw at smoother, me HD option pa

paul e. · 14 years ago

yung sinasabi mong P280 basic package lang… walang hbo, star movies, tcm, fox channel, diva universal, anc, discovery, bio, history, espn, star sports, nhk, and more… all of which (except star movies & anc) are included in destiny’s P500/month package. to add those channels individually, check out the price list here: http://www.mysky.com.ph/subpages/cable/select.aspx?intLocId=16

Mr. Curious · 14 years ago

FYI destiny is alot cheaper than sky cable. Why? to answer you question, the 500 peso monthly subscription fee of destiny cable comes with 88 channels already! get it?! and your 280 peso sky cable package only offers 55 channels only (I’m not sure) with lots of unnecessary international channels. Yes you have a digital feed but how many times does sky cable increase the monthly subscription fee? In destiny cable they have maintained the 500 peso monthly subscription fee unlike sky cable (especially right now). AND destiny offers a FREE installation of the cable connection, UNLIKE AGAIN in sky cable which is I think 2500php

I’m not angry or whatsoev I just want people to think and check what they are saying or typing before hitting okay or enter d-_-“b

P.S I’m not a destiny cable subscriber rather sky cable it is

Enya · 14 years ago

So yung mga naka Destiny na naka jumper lang at walang monthly ay ma tsu tsugi na? Kaya pala nanggalaiti! Mean….

bobelskaba · 14 years ago

Ha? Alam mo ba kung ano pinagsasasabi mo teh?

Yung 280 ng SkyCable, bukod sa mas konti ang channels sa 499 na mothly ng Destiny, may sobrang mahal pa na installation kasi kailangan naka-digibox ka, P2000 yun. Di tulad sa Destiny na one month advance lang kelangan mo ibayad para mainstallan ka.

Tapos after a month, mawawala nalang bigla yung isang channel na libre sa line up at papalitan ng channel na nagpapalabas ng old chinese dramas. Sulit ba 280 mo kung local channels at puro chinese channels lang napapanood mo?

At FYI mas vigilant ang Destiny sa paghuli ng naka-jumper kasi wala silang sub contractors hindi tulad sa SkyCable na talamak ang bentahan ng digibox na walang monthly kaya palabo ng palabo ang mga channels dito sa amin habang tumatagal.

Mr. Curious · 14 years ago

I’m not sure if she’s a sky cable fan or just plain blind person… hmm…

Enya · 14 years ago

@bobelskaba
ang digibox ay remotely activated uniquely to a subscriber with an active account number with Skycable via its IMEI. Just like an internet modem. Gets mo? Kaya hindi ito pwedeng nakawin at ibenta para magka cable ng walang monthly! Napaghahalatang naka “jumper” Destiny ka.

bobelskaba · 14 years ago

Duh, tanga. Walang way ang SkyCable to remotely determine kung may digibox na nakisaksak sa kanila. Para makaaccess ang digibox sa skycable, may card na kelangan ipasok na tailored for that digibox. Yun ang binebenta ng mga sub contractors kasama ng digibox. GETS?

At skycable subscriber din ako tanga.

Yumi · 14 years ago

@Enya, @bobelskaba, Card Pairing is the correct term for pairing the cable card along with the digibox. @Enya, you are right that this pairing process can be executed remotely from sky but authorized contractors usually do this before the actual installation process. In our experience, our digibox with the card for skycable silver was delivered ready to “plug-and-play” because the contractors did the pairing beforehand. So what @bobelskaba’s saying is really true.

In fact, our contractor offered a lifetime no MSF for a skycable gold subscription (also using a digibox) for a “price” but we refused because we opted to avail of a skybroadband subscription (which isn’t possible with an illegal digibox because sky needs an existing cable subscription for the broadband connection).

After a few months, with how crappy the internet service is, I should’ve availed that special offer. hehehe (just kidding)

paolo · 14 years ago

Great. Destiny ang cable provider namin ngayon. And I swear to God. AMPANGIT ng reception ng ibang channels sa flatscreen namin (Manila area, near Makati border, near South Superhighway)

I am expecting better cable reception as a result of this! Para justifiable naman ang pagtaas ng sisingilin nila samin buwan-buwan para sa cable TV!

(Given naman na tataasan nila ang sisingilin nila sa atin, eh. Pambawi raw sa pinambili ng kumpanya…)

bobelskaba · 14 years ago

Wag kang magreklamo. You are getting what you are paying for. Kung gusto mo ng malinaw, magsubscribe ka sa cable providers na may HD package. Kung 500 lang kaya mong bayaran a month, magtiis ka sa analog. Better yet, maghanap ka ng mas magandang trabaho.

Lani · 14 years ago

For sure, tataas ang babayaran ng mga subscriber ng Destiny kasi monopolized na ng Sky ang market, hay kawawa ang mga customer. Kahit kailan di na maprotektahan ng government or kung ano mang agency ng government na assign dito.

ryl · 14 years ago

what the hell!

Gerald · 14 years ago

bakit ba pinapayagan ito ng government? This is crazy!

JC · 14 years ago

talk about monopoly.. is this gonna be the start of cheap sattelite tv? coz evidently sky is way overpriced.

TWTWTech · 14 years ago

Is it mainly to eliminate competition?

wesley · 14 years ago

there’s still cablelink. although its available only in certain areas.

there’s also cignal and dream and some of their packages are also affordable

GhostHunter · 14 years ago

This is the beginning of the end for “cheap” cable TV.

Randy · 14 years ago

This is bad news.

e30ernest · 14 years ago

So what are our choices now?

The government should have a more hands-on approach into looking into these kinds of mergers since it really just kills off competition in the industry.

slipknot · 14 years ago

ididigital na ng sky cable ang feed, kung may 2nd or 3rd tv ka sa house nyo, obligado kang bumili additional digibox worth P 2,500.00 and pay additional P250.0 on top of your monthly fee. dito sa taguig lahat ng nakasplitter wala ng signal, ung may digibox lang. sigurado marami mawawalan ng cable

Enya · 14 years ago

Wala pong bayad ang digibox, one-time installation fee lang na P300 and then the monthly subscription for your chosen plan which starts at P250 for every additional tv.

Deadbeat · 14 years ago

Ok Lang bumili sana ng digibox but to pay addl 250 is really way off

Jojo Marababol · 14 years ago

enya mas mahal ang sky cable. you have to buy a digibox for EVERY TV that you have in the house. Perhaps libre sa 1st TV but if you have 2 TVs then you have to buy an extra for the second TV. Besides the channels on Sky’s cheapest plan sucks big time as it doesn’t offer the nice channels that the basic Destiny has – HBO, Discovery etc. You have to pay more for the higher plans to get those channels. Sky is MONOPOLIZING the cable industry and they suck big time! Greed!

darryl · 14 years ago

can’t believe this is happening. i am a current sky subscriber, i’ve been with destiny before; the latter is a lot cheaper (still 500/month if i’m not mistaken) but both basically have almost the same lineup of channels. i don’t really give much sh*t to this though, it’s just that the trend of these huge companies buying out their immediate competition or the small players kills the market. in the end, it’s us consumers who suffer because they have monopoly over pricing. anywhere else, this won’t get approval readily. just look at at&t and t-mobile in the US. what the hell is the gov’t doing?

Jack · 14 years ago

This really sucks. Just watch how skycable will raise the prices up again now they don’t have competitions left. Unfortunately the philippines doesn’t have anti trust law here.

Jojo Marababol · 14 years ago

Exactly! Mukhang pera yung SkyCable na yan! It’s a MONOPOLY and will make (quality) cable TV only available to the wealthy. Even if Sky will say they have a very cheap basic plan but they do not have the extra channels like NatGeo, Discovery, HBO etc built in as you have to go with their more expensive plans to get these. Binili na nga nila yung HomeCable before and now they are monopolizing thr industry by getting Destiny. What are our alternatives now for low-moderate income cable users. Tapos yung horrible digibox nila is a very unsightly device. You have to buy an expensive 2500 per box tapos on top of that additional fee for an extra TV. Putcha!