By Steph Roxas
Telecom giant PLDT has partnered with US-based video streaming provider Roku Inc. to formally launch in the country the TVolution box, which streams over 50 channels including Cignal, Netflix, and YouTube into a TV set.
At a press event at the Shangri-La Hotel in The Fort on Thursday, June 8, executives of the two companies and content providers promised an easier and faster way of navigation and access to local television shows as well as international content.
The officials said they expect Filipinos to subscribe to the service due to the fact that viewers can now enjoy various content on their own television set. In the case of iflix, it is the first time for the streaming provider to replicate its service on TV.
“I am proud and excited to unveil yet another first — a first that will revolutionize home entertainment and bring in a new age of TV in the Philippines,” PLDT first vice president and home business head Oscar Reyes Jr. said.
Reyes said TVolution aims to reclaim the power of television as a major tool that gathered family members in the living room to watch various programs.
The TVolution box is a plug-and-play entertainment provider loaded with titles from iflix and Netflix, as well as pay-TV content from Cignal, free videos from Youtube, and over 100 other streaming channels. The TVolution box is controlled by a remote with direct buttons from the content providers.
Powered by PLDT Home Fibr, subscribers starting this June will be able to avail the TVolution box and service for an additional monthly fee of P199. Further chargers will apply depending of the choice of the streaming services availed by the subscriber.
PLDT chair Manny V. Pangilinan said that the company is hoping to cover more homes in the country with its fiber-optic offerings by 2019. “We’re aiming to connect 6 million homes by 2019. Beyond 2019, more than 6 million (is the target),” he said.
