Malaysians will get to enjoy free digital television broadcast beginning next year through the Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) service which will be managed by MYTV Broadcasting Sdn Bhd (MYTV).

MYTV chief operating officer Mohamed Redzwan Yahya said to be able to get the service, consumers would have to get a decoder or ‘Top Box’ set or the iDTV which had the ‘DTTB Receiver Consumer Label’ (DTTB Malaysia) issued by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

“The presence of this label will ensure the devices bought by consumers are able to receive the DTTB service,” he told reporters after a seminar on DTTB Receiver Consumer Label in Cyberjaya recently.

MYTV, as the DTTB provider in Malaysia, also has exclusive rights on the sale and distribution of DTTB decoders in the country.

Mohamed Redzwan said the first phase of the DTTB service could be enjoyed by about 85 percent of residents in the country and would increase to 98 percent by end of 2016.

He said through the DTTB service, viewers would enjoy better quality picture and sound, more free television channels and also access to interactive television service, like shop from home and watch video on demand.

He said two million sets of decoders would be distributed free to eligible households, comprising those in the B40 income group.

Consumers only need to connect the decoder to the portable indoor antenna, which is included in the decoder package, or to the existing fixed rooftop to enjoy the DTTB service, he added.

On the project cost, Mohamed Redzwan said the DTTB project was a private funding initiative and MYTV had allocated RM4.5 million in investment for a period of 15 years.

MYTV is a company licensed by the government to develop and managed infrastructure for the DTTB service in Malaysia as part of the transformation of the national broadcast system from analog to digital by 2017.

- Bernama