A total of 4.2 million BR1M households will receive free MYTV decoders as the nation moves towards full digital broadcasting.
The MYTV decoder allows viewers to get myFreeview, a broadcast service offering free-to-air channels in Malaysia in digital quality.
To get the service, viewers just need to connect their TV sets to the MYTV decoder and an ultra-high frequency (UHF) antenna.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said 2.2 million BR1M households will receive the MYTV decoders free while MYTV Sdn Bhd has committed additional two million decoders.
MYTV Sdn Bhd was given approval in 2014 to be the infrastructure developer and sole provider of myFreeview for a 30-year period.
“This would mean that a total of 4.2 million BR1M households will receive the decoders for free,” Najib said at the launch of the myFreeview Digital Broadcast at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here yesterday.
Najib said the decoders will be distributed to the households in stages.
The myFreeview service will offer viewers nine TV stations - TV1, TV2, TVi, TV AlHijrah, TV3, NTV7, 8TV and Bernama News Channel.
Four RTM radio stations will also be accessible, namely Nasional FM, Traxx FM, Minnal FM and Ai FM.
Najib said more content will eventually be added to the service, including interactive online shopping and mobile TV.
He said the migration towards digital broadcasts was under the National Digitisation Blueprint.
He noted that some 60 countries have already ended analogue transmission and migrated to digital broadcasting since 2007.
“Asean has set a target of between 2015 and 2020 to end analogue transmission.
“Singapore has set 2017 as a target to end analogue transmission, while we will end ours by June 2018,” he added.
Najib said myFreeview now has achieved 87% coverage nationwide and will reach 98% by the end of this year.
Apart from BR1M households, others who wish to enjoy myFreeview can buy the MYTV decoders, which will be sold at retailers for RM199 each.