Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo announced that 300,000 units of free myFreeview decoders will be given out to B40 households and people with disabilities (OKU) nationwide. The minister stated that this initiative was in addition to the 2 million units of decoders already provisioned last year.
Starting from 20 to 22 February 2020, about 3,000 myFreeview decoders will be distributed to the aforementioned individuals in Sabah. Distribution of the decoders is also being carried out in Sarawak and other states in phases.
According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), this initiative is an effort by the government to bridge the digital divide and uplift the underprivileged groups across the country. With this, they now have the opportunity to enjoy digital tv services for free, without any monthly subscription required.
myFreeview currently offers 14 free TV channels including TV1 – 3, TV Okey, Berita RTM, RTM Sports, ntv7, 8TV, TV9, 2 CJ Wow Shop interactive channels, Bernama TV, TV Al Hijrah and Astro Go Shop. The service also hosts 6 RTM radio channels as well, which are expected to grow in number in the near future.
Additionally, East Malaysia were the last states to fully switchover to the myFreeview digital broadcast on 31 October last year. This marked the end of the nationwide analogue free-to-air broadcasting services which started in 1963.
(Source: MCMC press release | Images: MCMC Facebook.)
