Sky Cable has taken over Destiny Cable which makes it effectively a monopoly in the Cable TV business here in Metro Manila. This is always bad news for us consumers whether you are a Sky or Destiny Cable subscriber.

MANILA, Philippines - Three companies, including Destiny Cable, have to agreed sell their cable TV and broadband internet assets and subscribers to the Lopez-owned Sky Cable Corp. (SKY).

Destiny Cable Inc. (DCI), Solid Broadband Corporation (SBC), and Uni-Cable TV Inc. (UNI) said they "have recently forged an agreement" with SKY "to further improve the services provided to their Destiny cable television and MyDestiny broadband internet subscribers."

A statement on the deal released Friday said “the agreement entails the sale of the cable TV and broadband internet assets and subscribers of DCI, SBC, and UNI to SKY.”

“The pay TV and broadband markets require continuous significant investments, if we are to keep up with our major competitors, particularly the direct-to-home satellite (DTH) and telco companies,” said David Lim, president of DCI, SBC, and UNI.

Lim said the agreement was reached order to give their Destiny Cable and MyDestiny broadband subscribers “the best products and services possible.”

To do this, Lim said they “realized that this will entail resources, for digitizing our cable network and expanding our broadband services, that we do not have.”

“We believe our agreement with SKY will allow subscribers to enjoy the benefits of the latest technologies," Lim said.

SKY Chief Operating Officer Rodrigo P. Montinola, meantime, said, “We are happy with the opportunity to extend the unique advantages of the digital cable TV and cable broadband internet platforms to Destiny and MyDestiny subscribers.”

He said SKY “will take extra care not to disrupt the existing services of the current subscribers – they will continue to pay same monthly fees for their subscribed plans, at the same payment centers, and can continue to reach Customer Service at the same numbers. We will make announcements on new services to be made available, at the appropriate time.”

Lim said the deal will allow their holding company, Solid Group Inc., to focus on selling its mobile phone brand, MyPhone.

“Our tie up with SKY came at an opportune time as it allows us to focus on our other core businesses. Our holding company Solid Group Inc (SGI), markets and distributes the leading Filipino mobile phone brand MyPhone," he said.

ABS-CBN Corp.'s Sky Cable is the Philippines’ largest cable television service provider with around 500,000 upscale subscribers in Metro Manila and key urban areas nationwide.

ABS-CBNnews.com is the online news outfit of ABS-CBN Corp.