Malaysian Govt Encourages Competition In Pay TV Sector - Minister

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) - The Malaysian government encourages competition in the provision of pay television broadcast to avoid monopoly by some in the industry, said Information Communications and Culture Minister Dr Rais Yatim. He said this is based on provisions of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Act 1998 where monopolistic practices, including television entertainment content, will not happen. Instead, the industry will grow with the emergence of Asian Broadcasting Network (ABN) which will start its broadcast in second quarter 2012 using fibre optic cable system. "The launch of ABN will encourage the proliferation of content. I am convinced that digital cable television service will become popular as it stresses on reasonable pricing, excellent service, good quality and comply with our laws," he told reporters after launching ABN here. Rais said special broadcasts such as world cup football and important events should not be dominated by one party as they are common property and the broadcast should be shared. "We need to see content as the right of the people where broadcasting of big football or badminton events are not controlled by one party." Asked whether ABN can compete with Astro, he said the pay TV operators should not compete but succeed based on their special qualities. "Astro programmes are broadcasted via satellite while ABN programmes are broadcasted via fibre optic cable system ," he added. ABN is confident of attracting 500,000 customers in the first year of broadcast and is projecting 3mil customers after five years of operation. It also aims to capture 15 percent market share in the first year and reach 40 percent market share by the fifth year. -- BERNAMA