“Singapore is on track in our plans to go fully digital, in line with ASEAN’s committed timeframe to switch off analogue TV transmission between 2015 and 2020,” said Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim, minister for information, communications and the arts, during his opening address at Broadcast Asia 2011.
“Following ASEAN’s adoption of the DVB-T standard for Digital Terrestrial Television, Singapore is looking into the early migration to DVB-T2, the second and latest generation of this standard,” he continued. “The move will result in enhanced viewing experiences for consumers and provide them with greater choices in TV content and services.”
“MDA (the Media Development Authority – editor) is now putting in place a nationwide trial network to determine how the new standard can be suitably adopted for Singapore’s terrain. With this network, Singapore will be among the first in the region to establish a wide scale DVB-T2 trial infrastructure. MDA is planning for the trial network to be installed by September 2011.”
The minister also unveilded plans for streaming web video to a worldwide audience on the internet. “I am pleased to announce that within the next year, consumers in Singapore and overseas will be able to freely access MediaCorp’s seven ‘Free-to-Air’ channels on the Internet. This initiative will also be a good way for overseas Singaporeans to keep abreast of events at home through the latest local TV programmes and be entertained by other programmes that MediaCorp has rights to. MediaCorp will be announcing the details of this service nearer the date of its implementation.”
OTT is also on the agenda for the city-state. “With the success of its ‘original web dramas’ for its xinmsn portal, MediaCorp will also be launching a new interactive service in the second half of 2011 known as “Over-the-Top” or OTT. This new service will offer free and premium content over broadband and will be available on different platforms such as TVs, PCs, tablet devices and mobile phones.”
