Astro & TIME in IPTV Tie Up

KUALA LUMPUR: Astro has entered into a pact that sees its HD pay-TV service B.yond deployed on TIME dotCom Berhad’s fiber-based broadband infrastructure, which will then be bundled with the operator’s broadband and telephony services.

Astro customers who sign up for the Astro IPTV service under this agreement with TIME will have 100Mbps bandwidth at their disposal, with all Astro B.yond services such as HD, PVR, VOD in multi-rooms. Subscribers will still have spare bandwidth to support connected devices such as laptops, mobile phones and game consoles on WIFI.

Dato’ Rohana Rozhan, the CEO of Astro, said: “Since the launch of Astro B.yond in December 2009, we have received huge demand for our High Definition (HD) and Personal Video Recording (PVR) services. Our Astro B.yond services are immediately available to all customers residing in single dwelling units (SDU’s) and progressively for those in multiple dwelling units (MDU’s). Over the last 6 months we have been conducting IP delivery trials, with very positive outcomes. TIME is a partner of choice given their immediate capability to provide 100Mbps to these MDUs, which enables us to deliver an unrivalled value proposition encompassing the very best of Astro B.yond and high speed broadband services, to our increasingly discerning customers. Under this agreement, these services will be made available to 167,000 homes in 730 MDU’s in the Klang Valley and Penang progressively within the next 12 months.”

Afzal Abdul Rahim, TIME’s CEO, added, "This collaboration marks a significant moment in bringing multimedia and Internet rich services to Malaysian homes. “TIME’s 100-percent fibre-based network is the most resilient and stable network in the country that is able to support Astro’s IPTV offering. TIME’s fibre connections run directly into homes, ensuring consistent speeds that are required for IPTV delivery as well as uncompromised Internet quality. This also allows Astro customers to experience the fastest broadband in Malaysia. Our rollout to homes in the past year has been aggressive and we will continue to keep up the pace in supporting Astro’s IPTV plans."