Dream Satellite TV is the first all-digital Direct-To-Home (DTH) television broadcasting service via satellite in
the Philippines. Broadcasting from the Dream Broadcast Center located at the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga,
channel content is received from program providers, compressed and broadcast via Koreasat 5 as of April 2010,
in DVB-S and NTSC color format exclusively to its subscribers using the Integrated Receiver-Decoder and the
Conax Nagravision 3 Encryption System. Because of the DTH technology, all remote locations, areas beyond
cable access and even on Philippine coastal waters, are reachable by the Dream Satellite TV service;
the broadcast signal is always clear wherever the subscriber is.
To receive Dream's broadcasting signals, subscribers must acquire a 55 cm in diameter satellite dish antenna,
an Integrated Receiver-Decoder (IRD) and a Dream Conditional Access Card (Smart Card).
To provide security and protection, the satellite signals of Dream shall be encrypted using a Conditional
Access System. Thus, exclusive use of Dream programs and services will only be available to Dream subscribers.
Status of competition and controversy
Dream Satellite TV filed a complaint with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)
against Global Broadcasting and Multimedia, Inc. (G Sat) for offering A DTH service in the Philippines without
a franchise and a license from Philippine authorities, namely the Philippine Congress for a broadcast
franchise and the NTC for a Certificate of Public Convenience .Aside from Dream, the Lopez group
SkyCable also filed a similar complaint against GBMI. It argued that GBMI's illegal entry into the industry
will result in the unnecessary duplication of an existing service that existing cable TV and DTH-TV service
providers already adequately provide.
Historical highlights
In April 1997, Dream was incorporated to the Philippine Multi-Media System, Inc. (PMSI).
On February 6, 1998, the Philippine Congress passed into law Republic Act No. 8630 which granted PMSI
a franchise to construct, install, maintain and operate for commercial purposes and in the public interest,
television and radio broadcasting in the Philippines. The franchise term is 25 years. On February 1, 2000,
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) granted a provisional authority to engage in Direct-To-Home (DTH)
satellite services. On February 7, 2001, the PMSI inaugurates its Dream Broadcasting Center at Clark Development Center,
and on April 22, 2001, the commercial launch of Dream Broadcasting System, the first DTH system in the Philippines,
took place.
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