Smart Wireless division head Danilo Mojica said SurfTV expands the Internet service portfolio of Smart, through its wireless broadband unit Smart Bro Inc., which reported 1 million subscribers by end-2009.

Exhausting all possible avenues of growth, top mobile operator Smart Communications has turned its attention on the television space to expand its  wireless Internet business.

The carrier recently introduced a new service, called SurfTV, which enables a TV set to be connected to the Internet via a set-up box.

Incidentally, Smart’s parent company, PLDT, had recently acquired acquiring local television station TV5.

Smart officials, led by chief wireless advisor Orlando Vea, touted the new offering as the “first in the Philippines” and perhaps “first in the world.” However, a small IT company attempted – but ultimately failed – in 2002 to offer a cable Internet-powered TV service.

One of the reasons cited for the failure is the theory that TV is mainly for public use, while PC is inherently private in nature.

But, Vea said times have changed drastically with Internet users now having developed shared-viewing habits.

“If subscribers want privacy, they could also opt to buy their personal TV set which they can place in their rooms or use the family TV at night when everyone is already asleep,” he said.

Company executives said the main impetus for SurfTV is the fact that the Philippines only has an 18 percent PC connectivity rate, which is below the global average of 25 percent.

In contrast, 90 percent of the homes have a TV set. In fact, the TV is the most ubiquitous home appliance in the country, according to Vea.

The SurfTV service operates through a set-up box made by a third-party Chinese manufacturer, which is connected to the RCA port of a television set. The apparatus gets its 3G signals from Smart’s wireless broadband network.

A SurfTV kit, which includes the set-up box, keyboard, mouse, remote control, and a Smart Bro USB stick-type modem with a pre-loaded SIM, is priced at P4,500. Internet access costs P10 for every 30 minutes. It is available in prepaid service for now, according to officials.

Smart wireless division head Danilo Mojica said SurfTV expands the Internet service portfolio of Smart, through its wireless broadband unit Smart Bro Inc., which reported 1 million subscribers by end-2009.

Mojica said the company performed extensive nationwide tests before it launched SurfTV. “We made sure that 3G in-door signals are appropriate,” he said, adding that the network is maximized to provide speeds of up to 7 Mbps.

Mojica said a similar TV initiative in the past failed because the country’s Internet infrastructure was obviously inadequate, with dial-up being the dominant standard then.

But, since it is still on its early stage, officials admitted that the SurfTV service still has a big room for expansion and improvements. For instance, one set-up box cannot be shared by multiple TV units.

And because the set-up box does not have an operating system and storage capacity (files can be saved though in USB sticks), subscribers can only surf, send or receive email, or chat.