Cable TV operators: High pole rentals killing cable industry

MICRO, small and medium cable TV operators have filed a complaint with the National Electrification Administration (NEA) against electric cooperatives in the country for excessively high charges on pole rentals, which the group said the NEA has failed to regulate.

The Federation of International Cable TV and Telecommunications Associations of the Philippines ( FICTAP) in its letter- complaint addressed to NEA Administrator Edgardo. Masongsong warned that the continuing rise in pole rental rates threatens the stability of the small-scale cable TV industry and the thousands of workers in its employ.

FICTAP National Chairman Estrellita Juliano-Tamano cautioned the NEA that it might be violating its mandate of making cheap electrical power available to all Filipinos “by arrogating unto itself the encouragement of unbridled continuous rise in pole rentals by electric co- ops without considering the dire and even fatal consequences to the biggest number of pole renters — the micro and small cable operators who have employed thousands of workers, serves millions of cable and internet subscribers and pays millions of taxes to the government.”

Juliano-Tamano said she was at a loss why the NEA administrator has not acted on her letter-complaint protesting the NEA Memorandum 2018-055 partnership with the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (PHILRECA).

The memorandum authorizes PHILRECA to impose a record-high charge of P420 per cable position per pole per annum, which could mean a death toll on many cable operators: “Now implementing the NEA directive are the hundreds of electric cooperatives who are the only beneficiaries of this onerous and unjustified policy. They could unfairly drop the service lines of cable operators who refuse to enter into these one- sided lease contracts charging exorbitant rates with provisions for regular higher increases.”

Claiming that this move by the NEA-PHILRECA is now being done without public hearings or dialogues or consultations with the concerned sectors, Juliano-Tamano said the affected cable operators who are facing certain bankruptcy may now file a formal complaint with the Office of the President and/or Congress, which enacted the law creating the NEA.