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SCMP Reporter

TVB's Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting will kick off a bundling offer between its SuperSun network and Hutchison Global Communications (HGC) within the next few weeks.

The company will provide a triple play service offering broadband connectivity, residential voice and pay-television service for as low as $220 per month.

'We don't believe customers will subscribe to our services for more than $300 a month,' said Jackey Chan, chief operating officer of SuperSun in an interview.

He said looking at competitors' rates, bundling services were priced about $220 to $280 per month. The company will set the price aggressively in order to increase its market share.

SuperSun will soon start using HGC's last mile to boost its network coverage from 700,000 households to over one million. The coverage will further increase to two million households at the end of this year.

I-Cable Communications, the largest pay-TV operator in Hong Kong, and NOW Broadband TV, a pay-TV service of PCCW, both have a self-owned network cover of over 2 million  households.

As the competition of pay-TV service heats up, Mr Chan expects the loss making SuperSun venture will increase its earnings by 2008  with 300,000 subscribers.

'Low programme costs should be our advantage,' Mr Chan said. With the support of its parent company TVB, SuperSun spends $200 million a year to carry six TVB produced exclusive channels such as news, health and drama.

'Our competitor uses about $200 million a year to broadcast the English Premier League football match, but we use the same amount to carry six channels,' Mr Chan said. He emphasised that SuperSun programme costs should be much lower than  i-Cable's.

Last year i-Cable spent $700 million on programme sourcing and production. An analyst  said i-Cable's costs will  increase another 10 per cent due to investments in self production. Programme costs counted for about one-third of i-Cable  group's revenue.

SuperSun is selling a package of about 40 channels at $128 per month, while competitors use mini packages for $129 to $138 per month to lure subscribers. Mr Chan believes its pricing will give it an edge.

Mr Chan  said that SuperSun will use its localised TVB channels and interactive programmes to differentiate itself from  competitors.

'I-Cable's strength is  sports and news, while NOW is focused on foreign channels. We have a good position as TVB content fits Hong Kong people's tastes. Our health channel and children's channel are very popular among public estate subscribers,' Mr Chan said.



SuperSun promises aggressive pricing