Malaysia will launch a digital TV (DTV) trial program to pave the way for the national digitalisation drive, Malaysian Deputy Minister of Information Lim Siang Chai said .
The one-year program will cover about 500,000 households in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur and some surrounding areas and the government will provide some families with 2000 set-top boxes, or digital receivers, to conduct studies on viewer acceptance, Lim said.
For this trial, Radio Television Malaysia (RTM), which has been selected to lead the DTV project in this country, will launch a new channel on the digital platform by the middle of the year 2006, offering audience with free-to-air digital programs.
There are plans afoot for RTM to open more digital channels free of charge when the nationwide implementation begins by the year 2007 or 2008, Lim said.
The Malaysian government has proposed to shut down all analogue television services in the country by the year 2015.
When asked to comment on the possible competition between the free DTV programs provided by RTM and the paid services of the two existing TV operators Astro and MiTV, Lim said it will not create great competition as the latter had their own features.
The ABU is a non-profit, non-governmental association of broadcasting organisations, with over 150 members from more than 50 countries and regions. It was formed in 1964 to facilitate the development of broadcasting in the Asia-Pacific region and to organise cooperative activities among its members.
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