The government today announced that through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), it will distribute an additional 300,000 myFreeview digital TV decoders at a cost of MYR30 million for registered B40 households and people with disabilities (PWD/OKU), nationwide.
This follows a recent announcement of seven decoder collection locations in Sabah and Sarawak.
In Sabah, about 3,000 free myFreeview decoders will be distributed starting 20 February to 22 February.
The additional distribution of free decoders is another effort by the government to bridge the digital divide and improve the lives of the underprivileged and underserved across the country.
With myFreeview, the people will have the opportunity to enjoy Digital TV services for free, without any monthly subscription.
Currently, myFreeview offers 14 free TV channels namely TV1, TV2, TV Okey, Berita RTM, RTM Sports, TV3, ntv7, 8TV, TV9, two CJ Wow Shop interactive channels, Bernama TV, TV Al Hijrah and Astro Go Shop, compared to just seven channels during the previous analogue era.
The digital TV service also hosts six RTM radio channels namely Nasional FM, Asyik FM, Klasik Nasional, Traxx FM, Ai FM and Minnal FM.
TV Okey in particular, emphasises content from Sabah and Sarawak, providing local content producers in the two states the opportunity to collaborate with broadcasters that can focus on local culture and promoting tourism to the state.
With interactive applications such as online shopping, the targeted groups can create additional sources of income by marketing their own products and services on the platform.
MyFreeview delivers superior audio-visual quality, broadcasting in Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD). The user experience is also enhanced with the integration of the Electronic Programming Guide (EPG), subtitles in various languages and interactive services.
Malaysia officially switched over to a fully digital broadcast on 31 October 2019, with Sabah and Sarawak the final two states to go digital. The nation’s nationwide analogue free-to-air broadcasting service first went on air in 1963.
Malaysia is the third country in the region to move to an all-digital broadcast system after Singapore and Brunei. The country will also be one of 60 countries in the world to say goodbye to analogue TV.
For more information, visit MYTV.
