Philippine Telecom Industry - Historical Research

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERS ITY OF THE PH IL IPP INES

College of EngineeringDepartment of Electronics Engineering

ECEN 3323 - Methods of Engineering Research

Philippine Telecommunication Industry

Submitted by:

Group IV

Delos Santos, Arjaye John R.Sim, Richard B.

Taperla, Jedidiah JoshuaUreta, Kien Francis G.

Velasquez, Karla Mae M.

Submitted to:

Engr. Geoffrey T. SalvadorResearch Adviser


I. Introduction

Technology aided the daily lives of every citizen in this world with different

aspects and ways. It alleviates our daily works by its functions and effectiveness in this

world. Without technology, there’s no automation. Automation leads us to be at ease

in our works. Aside from automation, there’s also communication as a part of the

technology. Communication helped in reaching everyone thru different mediums:

Mobile phones, computers via internet, radios, televisions, telegraphs, amateur radios,

and etc., these devices are used since then. Without these devices, telecommunication

won’t be possible.

Telecommunication means communication at a distance. By this technology, we

can easily communicate with someone no matter where he/she is. Even if it’s national

or international, it doesn’t matter. Blogs, Online news, Foreign Exchange, Celebrity

news, Social Networking Sites, History, Technology features, Researches, and even E-

mails can be accessed thru internet. Internet is one of the modern necessities in the

world. Internet is like a window that shows the world in just a glance/click. People get

connected with internet thru Social Networking Sites. These sites were made to get in

touch with people, socializing online. Mobile Phones connect people thru texts, calls,

and now smartphones can connect also thru wireless connections (Wi-Fi and Data

connection). Smartphones are now rampant nowadays. As one of the main functions of

the mobile phones is to connect people thru texts: SMS, Short Messaging Service or

MMS, Multimedia Messaging Service and thru calls: Local or International calls. This

functions were augmented that they created new way of using the phones. The


1


cellphones were metamorphosed into smartphones, although cellphones do still exist.

These smartphone that we use in the touchscreen technology, with its own

specifications, cameras and etc, is an alternative for a computer. Radios and

Televisions helped in broadcasting to the mass. Without these, we won’t know the

latest news about the nation. Radios as a form of broadcasting thru AM, Amplitude

Modulation and FM, Frequency Modulation, it works in the same way but it differs in

how the carrier wave is modulated. Television as a form of broadcasting thru

transmission of sounds and images is the preferred medium of the citizens. Different

networks have their own media that can deliver the freshest and breaking news for the

country. Also, there is also the entertainment section of the networks. Amateur Radios

(Ham Radios) are also used for telecommunication wherein it can reach the other hams

across the town, the world, or even into space. Another example of a group of hams is

the PUPHAM or Polytechnic University of the Philippines - Help Assist & Mobilize

wherein they use the amateur radios in different university and department events in

PUP. This organization is under the Electronics Engineering Department of PUP. It’s

not exclusive for ECE Students only but any students who are willing to learn and use

the amateur radios are welcome.

Any methods of communication in a distance are a form of telecommunication

like kids playing with two tin cans that are connected with a rope. Telecommunication

doesn’t exclusively talk about the telecommunication companies itself but

broadcasting stations and even amateur radios. If you’re interested in

Telecommunication, of course you’ll find the history interesting. How the


2


telecommunication bloomed? How it started in the Philippines? What is the first

device that was used for telecommunication? Who brought up these changes? When

does the telecommunication introduced here in the Philippines? These are some

questions that are aligned with telecommunication.

II. Related Literature

PHILIPPINE TELECOMMUNICATION STORY AT A GLANCE

It was year 1867 when three members of the Telegraphs Corps of Spain are

dispatched by Royal Order of the Philippines to put up a telegraph training school and

install a communication system to interlink all the principal towns and cities in the

country. The first telegraph link that was established is between Manila and

Corregidor Island. Rafael Izquierdo Y Gutierrez became Governor-General by the

credits of introducing steamboat into the local scene, happened on April 4, 1871.

During his administration, first steamship service is opened and more telegraph lines

were installed. He was also the same governor-general who signed the death verdict of

the three-martyr priests – Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora –

1872. Izquierdo also established a Telegraph Practical School on 1872. A concession

or contract for laying down a submarine telegraph cable that will link the Philippines

with Hong Kong, 535 nautical miles away, was awarded by the Spanish Government

to Eastern Extension Australasia and an English firm, China Telegraph Company in

the year 1878. The installation of Philippine-Hong Kong submarine cable was finished


3


in the year 1880, the country’s first overseas telegraph link. The system is made

available for public telegrams on May 8, 1880. The first telephone system and the first

street car service are inaugurated during the administration of Valeriano Weyler y

Nicolao that was appointed as governor-general in the year 1888. The first telephone

system was built on 1890. On 1897, Eastern Extension Australasia and China

Telegraph Company, with still a 20-year contract with the Spanish Government and a

yearly subsidy of $22,500, installs a submarine cable interconnecting Manila with

Capiz, Iloilo, Bacolod, Escalante, and Cebu using the company cable ship Sherard

Osborne.

Revolutionists from Zambales attacked the cable station at Bolinao. The

overland cable connecting Philippines-Hongkong cable with Manila is replaced by an

undersea cable following frequent cuttings of the aerial cable by the Revolutionary

Army. There was an interruption due to the damage of the cable during the Battle of

Manila Bay in telegraph service that was restored in August 20, 1898. Late President

Emilio Aguinaldo issued a decree for official opening the Philippines telegraph

services (Nov. 2, 1898) and the postal service (Nov. 8, 1898) in areas in Luzon.

The Americans took over the Philippines from Spaniards in the year 1899. They

installed their own telegraph and telephone systems for the needs of the military. The

system consists of 2,400 kilometers of undersea cables and landlines interlinked the

major islands of the country. Civil Government’s Department of Commerce created a


4


department of posts in the year of 1901. A telegraph division was organized under the

Constabulary (a civil, non-paramilitary force consisting of police officers called

constables) by The Philippine Commission on September 15, 1902. There was also an

installation of a submarine telegraph cable between Romblon, and Boac, Marinduque,

121 kilometers away on November 21, 1902. In the same year, the Bureau of Posts

was created in accordance with Act 462 of the Philippine Constitution. Commercial

Pacific Cable Company completed the installation of the first Pacific cable linking

Manila with San Francisco, USA. Late US President Theodore Roosevelt and Late

Philippine Governor General William Howard Taft exchanged messages for the

inauguration of the event in the year 1903. Two citizens of America established the

Philippine Island Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (PITTC) that started with 500

telephone subscribers in Manila in the year 1905. The telegraph division is transferred

from the Constabulary to the Bureau of Posts in heeding the government

reorganization law that was happened in the year of 1906. Posts-Telegraph School of

the Bureau of Posts was introduced. Among its first Filipino instructors are Jesus

Alvarez, Faustino Navarro and Petronilo Taracatac. Trainees in the school were

entitled to a monthly allowance of P20 (later increased to P30) each on 1910. They

were called pensionados. On June 30, 1911, the telegraph division of Bureau of Posts

no longer controls any telephone line. A magneto-type switchboard, another telephone

system of the PITTC was established in Iloilo City in the year 1914. The government

had finally developed its own internal telecommunication, the inter-island cable

network of Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company was phased


5


out in the year 1917 together with the appointment of Eugenio Padua as the

superintendent of the telegraph division of the Bureau of the Telegraph Division of

Bureau of Posts, the first Filipino superintendent of the bureau. The Bureau of Posts

established the country’s first wireless (radio) stations in San Jose (Mindoro), Puerto

Princesa (Palawan), Jolo (Sulu), Zamboanga, Davao and Malabang (Lanao). The other

stations in Corregidor and Cavite were controlled and maintained by the United States

Army. The first automatic telephone system was installed in Manila by PITTC. These

events were happened in the year of 1919. The first class of wireless (radio) telegraphy

was conducted by the Posts Telegraph School of the Bureau of Posts in the year 1920

and was instructed by Guillermo Rodil of Cavite. The first organization of

government radio and telegraph operators and postmaster-operators was the Philippine

Sparks and Postmasters Association, Inc. was organized in the year of 1920 also. This

organization is under the presidency of Guillermo Rodil. The Bureau of Posts installed

a coastal service station using spark transmitters. The stations were located at Iloilo,

Palawan, Cebu, Catbalogan, Lucena, Infanta and Zamboanga. Many of these coastal

stations were manned by the Americans; serve the country’s inter-land shipping. The

Philippine Islands Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (PITTC) are dissolved and

withdrawn business from the Philippines. Philippine Telephone and Telegraph

Corporation was organized and took over the accounts of PITTC in the year 1922.

The country’s first radio amateurs’ organization was organized with the name,

Amateur Radio Club of the Philippines (ARCP). First elected president of this


6


organization was Tomas Rivera happened on 1922. Gov. Gen. Francis Burton

Harrison issued regulations governing the Philippine telegraph service. A Radio

Commission is composed of an officer of the US Navy, a representative of the US

army Signal Corps and Gonzalo Kamantigue of the Bureau of Posts, is created. Radio

Broadcasting was introduced in the country. These events happened in the year of

1923. The decisions of the International Radio Telegraph Convention held in London

in 1912 were issued by an executive order of Gov. Gen. Leonard Wood happened in

1924. Dapitan radio station was built as a replacement for the old submarine cable

coming from Zamboanguita in Negros to Baliangao happened on April 13, 1924. Also,

the Negros Telephone Company was established. The penthouse of Henry Herman

located in Sta. Cruz, Manila was the place where the KZKZ Broadcast Station starts

broadcasting with a 100-watt transmitter happened in October, 1924. Radio

Corporation of the Philippines and Far Eastern Radio (FER) were also formed. The

second amateur radio club, Philippines Radio Club, was organized by Lt. Haydn P.

Roberts of the US Army Signal Corps is the first elected president. Eastern Radio

established its own broadcast station namely KZRQ with a 500-watt transmitter

happened on December 1924. Dec. 1925, KZKZ was sold to Radio Corporation of the

Philippines which increased its station power to 500 watts. Isaac Beck, an owner of a

department store in Escolta, Manila, built the station KZIB, a 20-watt station on

November 1925. The stations capacity was increased to one kilo-watt five years later.

Bureau of Posts contacted Clemente Zamora to change some of its spark transmitters

to tube transmitters in the same year, 1925. While, the first arc transmitters in the


7


Philippines are installed in Infanta and Cebu in the year 1926. The first radiotelegraph

circuit was built by RCA Communication of the Philippines between Manila and San

Francisco wherein USA followed by similar circuits between the Philippines and other

countries in the year 1927. Also in the same year, Erlanger and Galinger Inc.

established KZRM, a one kilowatt station with its sister station, KZEG. The Dapitan

radio station of the Bureau of Posts upgrades its transmitters with its new vacuum tube

transmitters. The first radio law (Act 3396) is enacted stating that all ships of

Philippine registry must have a radio apparatus installed aboard. It was delegated to a

section of the Telegraph Division of the Bureau of Posts in the year 1927.

In the year 1928, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) was

incorporated under the provisions of the corporation law of the Philippines. Robert

Company was granted under Act 3495 a franchise to provide international telegram

service in the same year happened on Dec. 8. This company started in the year 1929

while Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company established its Manila office in the year

1930. Radio Corporation of the Philippines temporarily took over the operations of

nine telegraph stations of the Bureau of Posts (Manila, Aparri, Laoag, Cagayan de

Oro, Zamboanga, Davao, Iloilo, Cebu and Tacloban), with a view to make the service

more efficient. It lasted only for a few months and the service was later on returned to

the Bureau of Posts. The British North Borneo Company made an agreement to make

a direct radio contact between Zamboanga and Sandakan in North Borneo that was

happened on 1931. Most of the operators in Sandakan are Chinese. In heeding the first


8


post-World War II conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

held in Atlantic City, USA, call signs of radio broadcasting stations in the Philippines

were changed from “K” to “D”. The call sign “K” was assigned to the US and its

colonies and possessions only, this was happened also in the year 1931. International

Amateur Radio Union (IARU) had extended recognition for the Philippine Amateur

Radio Association (PARA) as an official member-society that was happened also in

the year 1931. Bureau of Telecommunications has started the operation of the

country’s first modern radio-teletype service between Manila and Cebu happened in

the year 1948. Tranquilino V. Pascual organized the Goverment Radio and Telegraph

Operators Union (GRATOU) in the same year, 1948. The first ground-to-air radio

telephone communications for airlines were established by Globe Wireless. By this,

Pan American World Airways had an operating agreement with the company in the

year 1949. The Radio Control Division together with the Radio Control Board, in line

with the provisions of E.O. No. 392 series of 1951, was transferred to the newly

created Department of Public Works and Communications. DZAQ-TV Channel 3 of

the Alto Broadcasting System (ABS), owned by Judge Antonio Quirino, was the

country’s first commercial television station happened in the year 1953. Bureau of

Telecommunications (BUTEL) commenced the country’s first social telegram service

with the 48th birthday anniversary of Late President Ramon Magsaysay as its first

recipient, happened in the year 1955. The Telex exchange services (Now, ForEx or

Foreign Exchange) was introduced by RCA Communication between the Philippines

and the U.S. and later from U.S. to Europe. Microwave communications on short haul


9


basis was introduced by PLDT between two of its exchanges in Luzon in the year

1955. The automation of the Government Telephone System happened in 1956. Globe

Wireless and Mackay Radio fused their transmitting and receiving facilities. The

government abolished the radio registration fee charged on all radio receivers’ sets in

the country, the main source of the radio broadcasting fund when the R.A. 146 is

enacted.

The Bureau of Telecommunications installed free GTS public telephones in

various public buildings in Manila City, happened on 1957. The first of its kind in

Asia, particularly in Malacañang Palace, GTS starts operation of a crossbar type

automatic telephone exchange. PLDT ended its contract with RCA Communications

on the domestic side operation of the PLDT-RCA jointly operated overseas telephone

service even as PLDT warns that it will cut off its trunk line connections with the

GTS. The government was authorized for loans for financing a nationwide

telecommunications expansion and improvement program when RA 2612 was enacted

by the Congress that was happened in 1959. The Philippines had its own slot in the

Administrative Council of the ITU during the Union’s Plenipotentiary Conference in

Geneva. In the same conference, there was a proposal for new methods of generating

call signs to be used by the radio stations of all ITU member-countries that was

submitted by the Philippines. During the same year, the Bureau of

Telecommunications implemented its regionalization plan subdividing the country into

eight regional telecommunication regions. It also reduced the rates of its press


10


telegrams from three centavos to two centavos per word. This was happened also in

the year 1959. The Government Telephone System transformed to automatic

operation. Introduction to metered rate system was delayed because of technical

malfunctions in the system’s French-made equipment in the year 1960. A franchise

for commercial radiotelephony, radiotelegraphy, television, coastal and marine

communications for international operation was granted to the Radio Communications

of the Philippines Incorporated (RCPI) under Republic Act No. 2963 while Republic

Act No. 3006 also granted a franchise for commercial telecommunications services

within and outside the Philippines to Philippine Wireless, Inc. Inter-island

Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) puts up channel 13. These events were happened in

the year 1960. ITU granted the Philippines’ proposal for building a national

telecommunications-training center in Manila and Republic Broadcasting System

(RBS) put up channel 7 in the year 1961. Associated Broadcasting Company (ABC)

puts up channel 5 and Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation puts up channel 11.

Renaming Radio Control Division to Radio Control Office (RCO) was issued by the

DPWH Deparment Order 41. Former BUTEL Director Jose S. Alfonso built the

Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (PT&T). These series of events

happened in the year 1962.

The Telecommunications Training Institute started their operations in Valenzuela

Bulacan in the year 1963. The Fifth Congress passed the Senate Bill to create National

Telecommunications Commission that was prohibited by the Late President Diosdado


11


Macapagal in the year 1964. Prohibition and penalization of wire-tapping was signed

R.A. 4200(Anti Telephone Wire-tapping Law) by the Late President Diosdado

Macapagal. R.A. 4630 authorized the renaming of Globe Wireless, Ltd., to Globe

Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation with respect to the merged companies, Globe

Wireless and Mackay Radio happened in the year 1965. During 1966: GTS Inter-

provincial telephone service between Aparri, Cagayan and Manila was opened to

public service, the coaxial cable system between Manila and Hongkong via Guam was

opened to public also, The Philippines joined the International Telecommunication

Satellite Consortium (INTELSAT), Incorporation of the Philippine Communications

Sattelite Corporation (PHILCOMSAT), Microwave link between Manila and Baguio

City of the BUTEL was established. Color Television was introduced in the country in

the year 1967. The first National Electronics and Telecommunications Week (July 22-

28) happened in the year 1968, heeding with Proclamation No. 382. The first World

Telecommunication Day happened in May 17, 1969. The tropospheric scatter link

connecting Philippines and Taiwan was introduced on July 21, 1969. Also, in the same

year, Philippines-Japan television link was introduced. Kanlaon Broadcasting System

(KBS) bought the facilities of Channel 9 from ABS-CBN on 1969. Observance of

annual National Electronics and Telecommunications Week is moved from July 22-28

to the first week of December, in accordance with President Proclamation No. 615

dated September 25, 1969. Direct telephone service via satellite were installed with the

United Kingdom, France and Singapore in the year 1972.


12


Satellite communication link between Manila and Madrid was introduced as

same as Manila-Paris communication link that was happened in the year 1974. The

Radio Control Office was expanded and renamed Telecommunications Control Bureau

of Posts on October 1974. The company which had the first international record carrier

to have its shares listed in the major Philippines stock exchange is the Globe Mackay

Cable and Radio.

Late President Ferdinand Marcos approved the transfer of observance of

National Electronics and Telecommunications Week from first week of December of

every year to May 11-17 to coincide with annual celebration of World

Telecommunications Day (May 17) declared by the ITU. The first Filipino to be

elected in ITU, a world organization, was Gen. Carreon, elected as vice president of

the Administrative Council of the ITU during its 9 th meeting of that council that was

happened in the year of 1984.

The first cellular mobile telephone network was introduced by PLDT in the year

1988. The Guam-Philippines-Taiwan (GPT) fiber optic cable was introduced in the

year 1990.

THE ARISING TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANIES

One of the largest telecommunication companies is the Philippine Long Distance

Telephone Company. According to PLDT’s website, PLDT was established and given

permission to operate November 28, 1928. On the same day, a typhoon devastated

Eastern Visayas, Bicol Region and Samar. It was when communication across the


13


country became crucial. At first, Ramon Cojuangco, a Filipino businessman and

industrialist, only own a block of shares formerly owned by the General Telephone

and Electronics Corporation of New York. Then, January 1, 1968, the group led by

Ramon Cojuangco formally assumed the management of PLDT.

As of now, the PLDT is not only a telecommunication company but also a

multimedia service provider. Currently, PLDT owns other branches of

telecommunication companies, Smart Communications and Sun Cellular, extending its

service through providing wireless internet services and mobile phone services.

It was 1928 when Robert Dollar Company, a corporation under State of

California was granted by the Congress to operate wireless long-distance message

service in the Philippines. The company was known as Globe Wireless Limited. GWL

was renamed Globe Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation by 1965, expanding its

services through international communication systems. Shortly after, their services

temporarily has been stopped by Martial Law. Then by 1980, its services resumed

before the expiration of the franchise.

Globe Mackay merged with Clavecilla Radio Corporation, and the company was

renamed to GMCR, Inc. Then, seven years later, the Securities and Exchange

Commission approved the change of name of GMCR, Inc. to Globe Telecom, Inc. In


14


the present time, Globe Telecom has been providing services to 40.7 million

subscribers.

The Philippine Telecommunication Industry went through numerous series of

events wherein as time goes by, the technology about everything esp.

telecommunication improves. The story about telecommunication started in 1867

when three members of the Telegraph Corps of Spain were dispatched by Royal Order

to the Philippines for establishing Telegraph Training School. Telegraph is a system

for transmitting messages from a distance along a wire. The first telegraph link that

was established is between Manila and the island of Corregidor. Gov. Gen Izquierdo

established a telegraph practical school on 1872. Philippine-Hong Kong submarine

cable, country’s first overseas telegraph link was completed on 1880. The first

telephone system was introduced on 1890, under Gov. Gen. Weyler. The first Pacific

cable that linked Manila with San Francisco, USA was completed on 1903. The Posts-

Telegraph School had the first Filipino instructors namely Faustino Navarro, Jesus

Alvarez and Petronilo Taracatac. The country’s first wireless (radio) stations were

established by the Bureau of Posts in San Jose (Mindoro), Puerto Princesa (Palawan),

Jolo (Sulu), Zamboanga, Davao and Malabang (Lanao) in the year 1919. Two other

stations were located in Cavite and Corregidor and manned by U.S. Army. The first

automatic telephone system was installed in Manila by PITTC on 1919 also. The first

class in wireless telegraphy was conducted by Posts Telegraph School of the Bureau of

Posts in the year 1920. Wireless Telegraphy is morse code transmitted by radio waves,


15


initially called “Hertzian Waves”. The country’s first organization of radio amateurs

was the Amateur Radio Club of the Philippines (ARCP) organized in the year of 1922.

Amateur Radio, also called “Ham Radio”, is a worldwide group of people who

communicate with each other over a wide frequency spectrum using many different

types of wireless transmitting modes. The word “Ham” originated from the names of

three great radio experimenters. They are Hertz, Armstrong and Marconi. The first arc

transmitters in the Philippines were installed in Infanta and Cebu in 1926. The first

radiotelegraph circuit in the Philippines was opened in the year 1927. The first radio

law is the Act 3396 that was enacted for having a radio apparatus for all ships

registered in the Philippines as a necessity that was implemented in the year 1927. The

first modern radio-teletype service was operated by the Bureau of Telecommunications

in the year 1948. The country’s first ground-to-air radio telephone communications for

airlines was introduced by Globe Wireless in the year 1949. Meanwhile, the first

commercial television station, DZAQ-TV Channel 3, owned by Judge Antonio

Quirino, went on air in the year 1953. The country’s first social telegram service was

introduced by Bureau of Telecommunications (BUTEL) with its first recipient, Late

President Ramon Magsaysay that was happened in the year 1955. The first National

Electronics and Telecommunications Week happened in July 22-28, 1968. Philippines

joined in the first World Telecommunication Day, May 17, 1969. Globe Mackay and

Radio is the first company that had its international record carrier to have its shares

listed in the major Philippines stock exchange in the year 1974. We had the first


16


Filipino that was elected in International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as their

vice president happened in 1984. The first cellular mobile telephone network is PLDT.

BROADCASTING NETWORKS

It was June 1922 when a couple of 50-watt radio stations were established in

Pasay and in Manila by Henry Hermann and according to Lent's (1978) collection of

histories of broadcasting in Asia shows that Philippine radio was possibly the earliest

in Asia, ahead of Chinese radio by at least six months and at least as early as, if not

earlier than, New Zealand radio. Two years after, Hermann replaced the experimental

stations with a 100-watt station with the call letters KZKZ. In October 4, 1924, with

KZKZ but a few months old, Hermann sold it to the Radio Corporation of the

Philippines (RCP). It was 1929 when KZRC, Radio Cebu, opened in Cebu and

presented radio broadcasting in the province. However, it was closed down because

shortwave relay signals were unsuccessful between Cebu and Manila. It reopened after

a decade and fearlessly went on air with the guerilla movements. Promulgated in 1931,

the Commonwealth Act No. 3840, also known as the Radio Control Law, created the

Radio Control Division, the regulatory body of the broadcast industry under the

supervision of the secretary of commerce and industry. Later, it was renamed Radio

Control Office that lasted until 1972 when President Ferdinand Marcos signed

Proclamation No. 1081 and “placed the entire country under martial law” and when

the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters sa Pilipinas was established “to police its own

rank.” During that time, six commercial radio stations were already established, and


17


these were KZEG, KZIB, KZRC, KZRF, KZRH, and KZRM. Only one of these radio

stations, KZRM, stayed on the air for a very long period since 1927.

Early regulation of broadcasting was begun in 1931 when the colonial government (of

the USA) began realizing the business potential of radio, and thus passed the Radio

Control Law creating the regulatory body Radio Control Board. The board examined

applications for licenses to operate radio, allocated band frequencies, and conducted

inspections for the office of the Secretary of Commerce and Industry. In 1947, when

the new republic was a year old, Trinidad represented the Philippines to a conference

of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Atlantic City in the United

States. The current regulatory body is the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters ng Pilipinas

(KBP).

Among the early pioneers, Francisco "Koko" Trinidad is regarded by broadcasters and

broadcast teachers and students of the past three decades as the Father of Philippine

broadcasting. Trinidad insisted on changing the first two call letters of Philippine radio

to RP, to stand for Republic of the Philippines, in lieu of the American KZ. Koko

wanted the world to know about the newly independent republic through the radio call

letters but the ITU rejected the call letters.

In October 1953 television reached the Philippines. On October 23, 1953, the Alto

Broadcasting System (ABS), the forerunner of ABS-CBN, made its first telecast as

DZAQ-TV Channel 3. The ABS offices were then located along Roxas Blvd. ABS

was owned by Antonio Quirino, brother of former president Elpidio Quirino.

Consequently, the first telecast was that of a party at the owner’s residence, earning


18


Elpidio Quirino the honor of being the first Filipino to appear on television. The

station operated on a four-hours-a-day schedule (6-10PM), covering only a 50-mile

radius. ABS was later sold to the Lopez family, who later transformed it into ABS-

CBN. By 1957, the Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN), owned by the Lopez

family, operated two TV stations--DZAQ Channel 3 and DZXL-TV Channel 9. In

1961, the National Science Development Board was established. It was behind the

earliest initiative to use local TV for education, "Education on TV" and "Physics in the

Atomic Age." In 1963, RBS TV Channel-7 Cebu was inaugurated. . By the latter part

of 1973, Channel 7 was heavily in debt and was forced to sell 70% of the business to a

group of investors, who changed the name from RBS to Greater Manila Area (GMA)

Radio Television Arts. Stewart was forced to cede majority control to Gilberto Duavit,

a Malacañang official, and RBS reopened under new ownership, with a new format as

GMA-7. When the smoke cleared, the viewer had channels 2, 9, 13, run by Benedicto;

Duavit’s 7; and 4, which belonged to the Ministry of Information. When DZXL-TV

Channel 9 of CBN was sold to Roberto Benedicto, he changed the name from CBN to

KBS, Kanlaon Broadcasting System. The two Benedicto stations--KBS Channel 9 and

BBC Channel 2—mainly aired government propaganda. 1980's In 1980, Channels 2,

9, and 13 moved to the newly-built Broadcast City in Diliman, Quezon City. In 1980,

Gregorio Cendaña was named Minister of Information. GTV Channel 4 became

known as the Maharlika Broadcasting System. On September 14, 1986, ABS-CBN

Channel 2 made a comeback and resumed broadcasting after 14 years. On Novermber


19


8, 1988, GMA inaugurated the “Tower of Power,” its 777-feet, 100kW transmitter, the

country’s tallest man-made structure.

In 1988, PTV Channel 4, then MBS, was launched as “The People’s Station.”

1990's In the 1990s ABS-CBN launched the Sarimanok Home Page, the station’s Web

presence, making it the first Philippine network on the Internet. On February 21, 1992,

ABC Channel 5 reopened with a new multi-million-peso studio complex in

Novaliches. By 1996, 89% of Filipinos and 57% of Philippine households watched

television 6-7 days a week. In 1997, the Children’s Television Act (RA8370),

providing for the creation of a National Council for Children’s Media Education, was

passed. By 1997, 57% of Filipino households had at least one television. 100% of

those in class AB had televisions, as opposed to only 4% in class E. In 1997, the

Mabuhay Philippines Satellite Corporation successfully launched Agila II, the

country’s first satellite. By 1998, there were 137 television stations nationwide. On

April 19, 1998, ZOE TV 11 of ZOE Broadcasting Network, Inc., owned by born-again

evangelist Eddie Villanueva, was officially launched.


20


III. References

http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/radio/radiorelayer.html

http://www.angelfire.com/pq/telecommunications/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_Telecom

https://www.globe.com.ph/press-room/globe-mobile-subscriber-base-breaches-

40m-mark

http://www.thepbe.org/profile/view/Philippine+Long+Distance+Telephone+Co.

http://www.pldt.com/about-us/company-timeline

http://www.interaksyon.com/business/45583/timeline--pldt-ownership-through-the-

years

http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/ham/MEANING.htm

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/ham-radio.htm

http://www.slideshare.net/carlaaganan17/history-of-radio-and-tv-in-the-philippines

http://www.oldradio.com/archives/international/philippines.html

https://prezi.com/pzi7nh4ln5sn/the-history-of-philippine-radio-and-television-

broadcasting/


21

https://prezi.com/pzi7nh4ln5sn/the-history-of-philippine-radio-and-television-broadcasting/

https://prezi.com/pzi7nh4ln5sn/the-history-of-philippine-radio-and-television-broadcasting/

http://www.oldradio.com/archives/international/philippines.html

http://www.slideshare.net/carlaaganan17/history-of-radio-and-tv-in-the-philippines

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/ham-radio.htm

http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/ham/MEANING.htm

http://www.interaksyon.com/business/45583/timeline--pldt-ownership-through-the-years

http://www.interaksyon.com/business/45583/timeline--pldt-ownership-through-the-years

http://www.pldt.com/about-us/company-timeline

http://www.thepbe.org/profile/view/Philippine+Long+Distance+Telephone+Co

https://www.globe.com.ph/press-room/globe-mobile-subscriber-base-breaches-40m-mark

https://www.globe.com.ph/press-room/globe-mobile-subscriber-base-breaches-40m-mark

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_Telecom

http://www.angelfire.com/pq/telecommunications/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/radio/radiorelayer.html

http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio

Date post:	14-Dec-2015
Category:	Documents
Upload:	kien-francis-gatdula-ureta
View:	15 times
Download:	3 times

Philippine Telecom Industry - Historical Research

Documents