Who We Are

Who We are

PHILIPPINE CABLE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION, INC. (PCTA)

The PHILIPPINE CABLE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION (PCTA), INC. is the umbrella organization of nationwide Cable Television Operators and Internet Service Providers in the Philippines. Its membership roster includes the biggest cable operators in the country, as well as the medium and small cable operators, who, through their pain-staking efforts, have succeeded in bringing up-to-date programs, information, and technology to the farthest island in the country. To date, the PCTA has over 300 regular members serving 75% of the total cable TV subscribers in the Philippines.

The Beginning

Although incorporated in May 1987 with businessman and former Senator, Ramon Magsaysay, Jr. as its founding chairman, PCTA’s beginnings could be traced to 1969 when American expatriate Russel Swartley — together with some Filipino businessmen, including Engr. Fernando Morales — set up the first cable television system in Baguio City. 

PCTA’s Birth

In 1987, the change in national leadership emboldened small independent cable television operators to organize themselves to promote and protect their interests, and to effectively put the infant cable television industry on the map of respected Philippine business. Thus, PCTA was born.

Under the leadership of Ramon Magsaysay, Jr., PCTA worked for the repeal of the presidential decree granting exclusive national franchise to only one company. The association’s efforts paid off on June 30, 1987, when President Corazon C. Aquino signed Executive Order No. 205 amending the decree, and in effect, democratizing the industry.

Taking the cue from President Aquino’s issuance of the Executive Order, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) promulgated in April 1988, after numerous hearings, the rules, and regulations that would govern the installation, operation, and maintenance of cable television systems in the Philippines.

The Filipinos’ entrepreneurial spirit, suppressed for a long time by the constricting decree of then-President Ferdinand Marcos, finally burst free, inspiring many entrepreneurs and businessmen to take a strong interest in the technology and create a new market for cable television.  Their instincts, plus the global thirst for new and powerful technologies, proved them correct, with a significant number of Filipino consumers readily embracing what cable operators have to offer.  But what really whetted the interest of a good portion of the populace in cable television was the Gulf War in 1991, when cable giant CNN brought to Filipino households a gallery view and blow-by-blow account of the war.

The Pioneers

Being a new technology, not to mention its high cable infrastructure cost, only a visionary like the young Magsaysay, upon Swartley’s prodding, would dare take up the challenge to put up other cable systems in Olongapo City in 1973, in Subic in 1976 and in Lucena City in 1977.

But the development of cable television came to a halt when in June 1977, Presidential Decree No. 1512 granted 25-year exclusive franchises to install, operate and maintain cable television systems in the Philippines to only one cable company. Despite its nationwide franchise, the company operated mainly in San Juan, Makati, and Manila.

The Leaders

The growth of the cable television industry would not be as dramatic as what it experienced in the past few years without the ability and the selfless stewardship of the succession of PCTA officers. They labored to guide it through innumerable hurdles and bring it to what it is now.

From Magsaysay, Reuel Dominguez, Fernando Morales, Leo San Miguel, Teddy Cruz, Jose Lobregat, Elpidio Paras, Francisco Magsaysay, J. Manuel Dabao, Antonio Selda, Allan Dungao, Leo Wong and Cedric Sazon hustled and cajoled to advance cable operators’ rights and interests, and acted as effective intermediaries with third parties.

Realizing the need to create a major forum whereby operators, programmers, and other industry people could meet to exchange views, discuss issues, forge action plans, and avail of the latest technological advances, PCTA launched the first annual Philippine Cable Television Convention and Exhibition at the Hotel Nikko Manila Garden.

It was also during this time rules, policies, regulations, and norms governing cable operations began to take form, while the more daunting and challenging issues such as overbuilding of cable systems, right to air advertising, and foreign investments in Philippine cable companies started to unsettle the industry.

Thus emerged the need to put order into this jumble of rules, policies, and regulations, bringing into life the proposed Cable Television Law. In 1999, the Senate Committees on Public Services, Public Information, and Mass Media; and Ways and Means filed Senate Bill No. 1611, also known as the “Cable Television Act of 1998.”