The Future of the Filipino Home is Here

Leading telco and digital services provider PLDT through its consumer business unit PLDT HOME is bringing the Smart Home suite of services to Filipino families with a string of partnerships with leaders in retail and entertainment.

“This is a new era in digital as we make Filipino homes stronger, safer, more comfortable and more enjoyable via PLDT’s Smart Home which has powerful connectivity and an integrated suite of innovative, reliable and family-friendly products and services,” PLDT FVP and Head of Home Operations Oscar A. Reyes Jr. said. “This is made possible with several local and global partnerships that we entered into recently which are aimed at enhancing and enriching the lives of millions of digitally connected Filipinos powered by PLDT Home and Smart Communications for mobile services.”

New world-class partners

As an industry leader in the Philippines, PLDT HOME continuously pursues strategic and global partnerships to stay ahead of the game. Today, the company also announced key alliances with new partners including U.S.-leading video streaming platform from Roku Inc. for Internet TV; global internet television network Netflix for an extensive library of award-winning TV and movie titles; e-commerce giant Amazon for online shopping; and iWant TV, the leading player in the over-the-top (OTT) content platform in the Philippines.

The partnership with Amazon will soon open the door for Filipino book lovers to enjoy the popular Kindle e-book reader.

The Roku streaming platform allows users to easily stream their favorite TV shows and movies on their TV screens. It is the streaming platform with the highest engagement in the U.S. because of its diverse content offerings and user-friendly interface. Notably, Roku’s partnership with PLDT is its first streaming deal in Asia, making the Philippines the first country in the region to join the ranks of Roku’s international markets including Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia. Roku services will be launched commercially in the country early next year.

iWant TV lets users stream their favorite ABS-CBN shows, both past and presently airing. Popular teleseryes like On The Wings of Love, Dolce Amore, Ang Probinsiyano and Till I Met You are easily accessible on-demand so avid followers can catch up on the latest plot twists and turns. News and current affairs shows are also available for streaming.

With Netflix, users can watch today’s top original Netflix series such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Marvel’s Daredevil and Stranger Things. Netflix continually adds new TV programs and films to the service, bringing the joy of entertainment to over 81 million members in 190 countries.  Depending on the subscription plans, members can create up to four profiles within a single Netflix account. Profiles allow different members of the household to have their own personalized Netflix experience built around the films and TV programs they enjoy. There are also parental control settings to ensure a safe-viewing experience for kids. This will limit a child’s profiles to a variety of child-friendly titles they can enjoy.

Pillars of the home

“PLDT’s Smart Home is a home where digital innovations advance the security, safety, convenience and entertainment experiences at home and beyond. It is a home where communication and connection are made easier by digital technology,” Reyes pointed out.

PLDT’s Smart Home is built on these key pillars: connectivity, peace of mind, entertainment, and convergence and automation.

The connectivity that binds the Smart Home is enabled by the country’s most powerful broadband, PLDT Home Fibr, which delivers the Philippines’ first and fastest Internet of up to 1 Gbps. This allows for high-speed browsing of multiple websites and the country’s first symmetrical speed service which provides equal upload and download speeds.

Peace of mind is a commitment to parents manifested through PLDT Home’s products and services designed to help parents feel more secure about the safety of their children especially when they have to be away. These products and services include the home monitoring system Fam Cam; the multi-functional kid-friendly gadget Smart Watch; and the cyber safety solution Family Zone, all best used with the Telpad.

When it comes to world-class entertainment, PLDT HOME has always been at the forefront of providing subscribers with diverse and compelling content—from well-loved kid-friendly content like games and e-books (Disney through Telpad) and  sports (Fox Sports, NBA Premium HD via Cignal) to gaming (Steam) and video-on-demand (iflix). Subscribers also enjoy the benefits of compact access to information and entertainment through the most powerful PC in a stick—the TVolution Stick. Adding to this entertainment suite are the partnerships with Netflix, iWantTV and Roku.

Finally, PLDT HOME has pioneered the convergence of wired and wireless connections through the data sharing feature which allows subscribers to seamlessly share data to pre-connected mobile accounts with leading wireless service provider Smart Communications, thus revolutionizing the way families share and enjoy their high-speed connection.

Home of the future

“PLDT’s Smart Home evolved from our pioneering concept of the Connected Home,” Reyes said. “The connected home was our vision of the modern Filipino home wherein families are connected, entertained and secured with the help of digital innovations powered by PLDT HOME. It was the starting point of our journey. In response to the fast-changing digital needs of Filipino families, we are fortifying that vision with the launch of PLDT’s Smart Home. It is a more integrated version of the connected home, where each product or service interacts with each other to perform harmonized tasks meant to ease and enrich the lives of our subscribers. It’s a Home that cares; it listens, protects, interacts and simplifies our lives.

He furthered, “We don’t want to wait for the future to dictate the trends and the innovations. We are charting our own course and shaping the future through innovative use of technology, global partnerships, world-class content and a keen awareness of and commitment to our subscribers needs. Today is the beginning of the digitally connected and empowered home that we are building for Filipino families.”