Malaysia is halfway towards completing its migration to going fully digital in terrestrial TV broadcast. At 12.30AM on 15 October, the analogue TV system was shut down completely in the northern and eastern region of Peninsular Malaysia, covering 49 analogue TV transmission stations in Perlis, Kedah, Palau Pinang, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang. This follows a successful pilot project in Langkawi, Kedah.
The recent switchover means the entire Peninsular Malaysia is now fully digital, after the central and southern regions made the switch on 30 September. Sabah and Sarawak are set to switch over on 31 October 2019.
The government first announced the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Project in 2017–an initiative to migrate the country’s analogue broadcast system to a full digital implementation. Named myFreeview, the service offers popular TV and radio channels for free, without any monthly subscription fees.
MyFreeview is in line with the National Broadcast Digitisation Project which aims to elevate the quality of life of Malaysians to be on par with developed nations.
The other benefit of going digital would be to enable the government to utilise the analogue spectrum for other modern communication services like 4G LTE and high-speed broadband.
Once the transition is complete, Malaysia will be the third country in the region to move to an all-digital broadcast system, behind Singapore and Brunei. The country will also be one of 60 countries in the world to say goodbye to analogue TV.
To enjoy MyFreeview, all is required is a decoder and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) aerial connected to a TV set. Alternatively, you can buy a new TV that is equipped with a digital TV tuner. All you’ll need is a UHF analogue aerial.
Currently broadcasting 15 free-to-air TV channels namely TV1, TV2, TVi, TV3, ntv7, 8TB, TV9, TV AlHijrah and Bernama News Channel (BNC), and six radio channels, the government plans to at least double the number in the near future, including interactive services.
The move to digital will also benefit content providers in providing another platform for their content with a higher nationwide reach as well as develop new sources of revenue.
MYTV Broadcasting Sdn Bhd was appointed to operate the DTT infrastructure and network; the sole infrastructure provider license holder responsible to build and operate myFreeview for 30 years.
For more information, visit MYTV.
