LANGKAWI: The nation’s broadcasting industry is set to record another milestone with the announcement yesterday on the gradual transition from the analogue television broadcast to the myFreeview digital broadcast service.
The historic announcement was made by Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo at the Langkawi District Civil Defence Force (APM) complex yesterday evening.
Gobind, who is here on an official visit, will also be gauging the success of the migration from the analogue to the digital service, on the island resort, which is into its second week.
In the morning, the minister visited Kampung Padang Lalang Internet Centre in Ayer Hangat, before checking on the Analogue Switch Off (ASO) operations room at the Langkawi District APM complex.
The term Analogue Switch Off refers to the transition from the television broadcasting service, provided for free by RTM since 1963 and TV3 since 1984, using the old (analogue) technology.
Langkawi residents have begun moving towards digital TV broadcast since July 21 after the analogue TV transmission from Gunung Raya was replaced with the myFreeview digital broadcasting service which offers better broadcast quality.
Langkawi was chosen as the first zone in the country for the transition from analogue TV broadcast because the island has a robust digital TV ecosystem, where digital TV coverage is comprehensive. Free decoders were distributed to households under the government’s Bantuan Sara Hidup financial aid.
Malaysia is the third country in the Asean region to progress from analogue broadcasting after Brunei Darussalam in 2017 and Singapore in January this year. – Bernama
