In a bid to give a major boost to its new fiber-optic offering, telco behemoth PLDT has partnered with the local equivalent of movie-streaming website Netflix to provide free movies for its high-speed Fiber broadband service.
The dominant carrier, under its Home broadband brand, showcased on Friday, Feb. 8, its pioneering partnership with Clickplay.ph, which is said to be the country?s first online movie streaming provider.
At the launch event held at the PLDT office in Makati, top executives said subscribers will get a specific number of free movies based on their monthly Fibr packages.
Under the set-up, Plan 3500 subscribers get 3 free movies; Plan 5800, will have 4 movies; Plan 8800 has 10 movies; and Plan 20,000 comes with 20 movies.
PLDT officials emphasized, however, that the number of free movies contained in the monthly plans could still change based on the pilot implementation. At present, Fibr users cannot watch movies beyond their allocation.
But, Gary Dujali, head of the PLDT Home broadband, said they are also looking at the possibility of allowing the subscribers to pay on demand the extra movies they want to watch.
Dujali also said they are not putting any data cap on Fibr to allow their subscribers to enjoy their online movies without impediment.
Clicplay.ph, meanwhile, said it currently has 70 titles in its database, but expects this number to rise to 100 this month and hit 200 by March. All are Hollywood flicks, although the company said it will also soon have Filipino movies as well.
Plans are also afoot to make the movies available on mobile devices such as iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, according to Clickplay.ph
PLDT noted, however, that their partnership with Clickplay.ph is not exclusive and that it is still open with other content providers.
Ariel Fermin, head of the PLDT?s Home Business, said the company may also eventually offer mature content, but stressed that it will be ?very cautious? on this move.
?With this movie streaming service, there will be no need for our subscribers to rent or buy DVD movies anymore,? Fermin said.
Fibr, the company said, is currently available in over 100 exclusive subdivisions in Metro Manila, including Forbes Park, Dasmarinas Village, Ayala Alabang, Greenhills, and Valle Verde.
