Astro and TIME dotCom Bring Us the Best of Three Worlds in One Service

Astro and TIME dotCom Bring Us the Best of Three Worlds in One Service

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Earlier today, Astro and TIME dotCom Berhad (TIME) made an announcement that will truly change the way Malaysians watch TV and browse the web, thanks to the newly launched Astro B.yond IPTV service. Held at the Grand Ballroom of the Doubletree Hilton Hotel, Astro's latest service is set to bring to life true digital lifestyle, which serves the needs of knowledge-driven and globally connected Malaysians.

“In December 2009, with the launch of Astro B.yond, we brought the first HD and 3D channels, then PVR services to Malaysians. Since launch, we have seen unprecedented demand for our services, which are now in more than 500,000 out of 3 million Astro Homes. However, almost 320,000 existing Astro customers living in centralized high-rise residences are unable to enjoy Astro B.yond services and this presents an opportunity to Astro to bring these services to them,” said Dato' Rohana Rozhan, Chief Executive Officer, Astro Malaysia.

With the new Astro B.yond IPTV service, customers can now enjoy the best of three worlds as they are able to access Astro channels in HD, with Personal Video Recording (PVR) and VOD (Video-on-Demand) services, as it is delivered via TIME's 100% fibre broadband, offering the fastest Internet speed in the country with voice at the best value to Malaysian homes.

“Today marks another milestone in our Astro B.yond journey, inspired by our customers. Astro B.yond IPTV will be progressilve available to 167,000 homes in 730 MDUs in the Klang Valley and Penang by the end of the year. At present, Astro B.yond IPTV is available at 60 high-rise condominiums within Mont Kiara, KLCC, Bangsar and Penang powered by TIME. Since our pilot launch, we have experienced cumulative demand and achieved 100% take-up in two TIME fibred condominiums,” added Dato' Rohana.

Customers will definitely experience and enjoy a revolutionary TV viewing experience as the new service uses Astro's industry-leading and cutting-edge technology via the 'tri-brid' box, which operates in three different modes, Direct to Home (DTH) satellite, pure IPTV and DTH-IPTV hybrid mode. When it is connected to TIME's fibre broadband network, users will then have access to a comprehensive on-demand service, prodiving even more choices and greater control to complement Astro B.yond's products and services.

But wait, that's not all as Astro B.yond IPTV is also a perfect home solution as it not only caters to the connected lifestyle of most modern families, but also provides information and entertainment for individual needs. Customers who do sign up for the service will receive a dedicated bandwidth of 100Mbps, large enough to support up to two Astro B.yond boxes and simultaneous recording of up to two HD channels, while watching either one of the HD channel or the recorded HD content, and downloading the third VOD programme in HD. There will also be 30Mbps left to support all connected devices, such as laptops, tablets, mobile phones and game consoles on WiFi within a single household.

“The launch of Astro B.yond IPTV significantly advances the multimedia and internet experience in Malaysian homes. The combined expertise of Astro's programming proficiency and TIME's robust 100% fibre-based network certainly ranks Astro B.yond IPTV as the best product available in the market. As Astro's preferred network partner, we are well on course to wiring-up the target buildings and are committed to making this partnership a collective success,” said Afzal Abdul Rahim, Chief Executive Officer, TIME.

For more information, please visit www.astro.com.my/iptv.