ASIA-PACIFIC BROADCASTING

SINGAPORE – Cable TV provider StarHub will go fully digital when it terminates its analogue transmissions on June 30 this year.

This transition allows StarHub’s customers to enjoy digital-quality viewing and a host of interactive services otherwise not available in analogue. The company, however, said analogue free-to-air channels will remain available to StarHub subscribers and non-subscribers.

StarHub started to move into the digital platform as early as 1994 and by the end of last year, it was estimated that 96% of StarHub’s pay-TV customers were already on the digital platform.

The industry trend to move to digital has prompted the company to follow the shift.

“Now that the analogue service is no longer supported by suppliers and manufacturers, we have decided to cease our analogue transmission so that the service quality rendered to our customers will not be compromised,” said Ong Bee Lian, StarHub’s head of Pay-TV & Entertainment.

The major disadvantage of the analogue service is its limited channels. Prior to the digital launch, StarHub could only offer 50 channels. Today, viewers are enjoying 130 channels.  

Access to selected Basic Group and Sports Group channels, which were launched only on the digital platform, is now possible with no extra costs after upgrading to a digital box.

 

Thus, Education Basic Group customers who shifted to digital can now enjoy without additional costs The History Channel. The Existing Sports Group will also receive the benefit of viewing six more channels such as Euro-sport, Eurosportnews, Goal TV 1, Goal TV 2, Golf Channel and SuperSports Plus. On top of these, all digital customers will have complimentary access to Arirang TV, Australia Network, Deutsche Welle, KBS World and TVRI.

Choices of set-up boxes (STBs) — digital STB, HD STB, HubStation and HubStation HD — are also presented before customers. The rental fee for each set-top box starts from S$4  (US$2.60) (excluding GST) monthly. The rental fee for HubStation and HubStation HD is S$8 ($8.56 with GST) and S$14 ($14.98 with GST), respectively.

The last two have built-in hard disk and two-way interactivity so that customers can watch and record programmes, as well as access Demand TV.

For each analogue STB that is upgraded to a digital box, customers will enjoy a S$2 (excluding GST) waiver off their monthly digital STB rental fee for a period of six months.

 

 

 

 

 

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