Rollout of ABNxcess good for Malaysian TV, says Najib

Najib at the launch of ABNXcess while Shabery, Eswaran (second from right) and his wife Puan Sri Vivian Wong looks on at Stadium Putra in Bukit Jalil.

 

KUALA LUMPUR: A new era for Malaysian television has begun with the launch of the first digital cable TV network.

Hosted by Asian Broadcasting Network (ABN) Sdn Bhd, ABNxcess is set to add more variety into homes with another avenue of high-speed broadband to boot.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak declared that the latest service would lead to a new era in the information and entertainment sector.

Congratulating ABN on its venture, the Prime Minister said the advent of digital cable TV in the country would help bridge the digital divide among Malaysians.

“This is what the government wants to see,” he said during the official launch of the service at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday night.

Also present was Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, ABN Media Group executive chairman Tan Sri K.K. Eswaran and ABN chairman Admiral (Rtd) Tan Sri Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor.

Najib hoped that with ABN’s service, Malaysians would also get the chance to showcase locally-made content through the network at a regional and international level.

Mohd Anwar gave the assurance that subscribers need not have to worry about bad weather interrupting TV transmissions.

For its high-speed broadband service, ABN is offering 10Mbps, 30Mbps and 50 Mbps packages at RM129, RM219 and RM369 per month respectively.

The ABNxcess pay TV service is priced at RM29.99 for 50 channels plus free-to-air TV, radio and games applications.

ABNxcess will also include 10 high-definition (HD) channels at no extra charge.

It was reported that ABN planned to increase its number of channels to 500 in the future.

The cable service will be rolled out to an initial 24 areas in the Klang Valley and Johor Baru, with a scheduled expansion to other regions over the next five years.

(Source: The Star Online)