PLDT Inc. said Friday it teamed up with Roku Inc., a US-based leading video streaming platform.
“We are seeing a growing demand for Internet-delivered TV services in the country and there is no better partner for us to give Filipinos the world of entertainment than Roku which has the largest base of active streaming users in the world,” PLDT first vice president and head of Home operations Oscar Reyes Jr. said.
The partnership enables PLDT subscribers to access over 3,500 viewing apps.
Roku has nine million active accounts in 10 countries, including the US, the United Kingdom and Australia. It also has more than twice the usage of Google Chromecast, according to independent surveys and Roku’s own tracker conducted in November 2015.
“Roku’s powerful platform will be a strong complement to PLDT Home’s current array of content from various providers that include iflix and Fox International Channels,” Reyes said.
PLDT Home broadband subscribers currently enjoy subscription video on demand through their iflix accounts which include western, Asian and local TV shows and films. The partnership with Fox also allows live streaming and catch-up television of the various shows on Fox channels.
PLDT Home has increased the speed of its Fibr plans with the most recent upgrade reaching as high as 1 Gbps to satisfy the growing appetite of subscribers for bandwidth heavy apps like video streaming.
The demand for Internet TV globally has grown dramatically in the past five years, with the fastest year-on-year growth of 73 percent registered in 2015 with one over-the-top box now streaming 5.5 billion hours at the end of 2015.
“In the past, operators first had to build or lease dedicated infrastructure in order to deliver TV services to the home, with streaming that is no longer the case. As a result, we see a lot of interest from all over the world for our Roku Powered program from both telecom and pay TV operators,” Andrew Ferrone, vice president of pay TV at Roku said.
“With its fast fiber & DSL infrastructure, PLDT is in a perfect position to leverage the Roku streaming platform and quickly deploy a proven, low-cost, turn-key solution and launch an innovative TV service to its broadband customers,” he said.
Recent surveys show that video consumption via OTT boxes grew dramatically in the US and accounted for 58 percent of total views as of March 2015 from 44 percent the previous year and against 24 percent for PC and 17 percent for mobile devices.
“We foresee the Philippines eventually following this trend as more Filipinos’ viewing habits involve more and more video. The partnership with Roku is consistent with PLDT Home’s objective of having the widest and best video portfolio in the Philippines,” Reyes said.
PLDT Home reported a subscriber base of 1.3 million as of end-June this year, up 14 percent from last year.