Melita inaugurates High Definition TV in Malta

Melita’s High Definition TV service was officially inaugurated this morning by Minister for Infrastructure & Communications Dr. Austin Gatt during a press conference held at Melita’s retail outlet in Naxxar.

This week, Melita started installations, both in commercial outlets and households, of its new Melita netbox HD – a new intelligent set top box similar to a mini computer which is revolutionizing the TV experience by making High Definition (HD) television possible for the first time ever in Malta and Gozo and also by personalizing the TV viewing experience through the facilities of pausing, rewinding and recording live television.

“This is a big day for Melita and for the Maltese Islands. Earlier this year, we committed ourselves to a multi-million Euro investment program to upgrade our services, in particular our TV offering. We have increased the channel line-up to 150 channels at no extra cost to customers and introduced high definition content. We plan to continue investing further in this area to offer on-demand content for a truly personalised experience” said Mr. Andrei Torriani, Chief Executive Officer for Melita.

“We are proud to be the first operator to offer high definition television to Maltese and Gozitan families. This is a very important milestone in the progression of television services in Malta. We promised to transform TV viewing in Malta from a linear model controlled by TV station managers to a personalised experience where our customers can watch what they want, when they want. This is the promise we are delivering today” added Mr. Torriani.

He said that Melita’s HD content is not limited to sports only. Melita is offering 10 new HD channels which will be added for free to the XL channel line-up with including Discovery HD Showcase, Nat Geo HD, Nat Geo Wild HD, Rush HD, iConcerts HD, Eurosport HD, History HD, Luxe TV HD, FTV HD and MTVN HD.

Melita’s High Definition (HD) television service is being launched right in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup matches. Every single action in South Africa will spring to life on a dedicated sports HD channel with English commentary and with Italian commentary for matches played by the Italian national team.

All matches will also be broadcast in standard definition. After an agreement with PBS, operators of the national TV station TVM, Melita and TVM are sharing broadcasting rights for the World Cup matches leaving viewers and football fans spoilt for choice in how to watch the World Cup. The World Cup is also available for free on Melita through TVM which will broadcast 46 live matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

For those who subscribe to Melita HD by the end of June 2010, Melita is offering FREE installation of the new melita netbox HD and is also waiving the monthly rental fee of the set top box (€10 a month) until 1st October 2010. Melita subscribers who are currently subscribed to Melita’s digital television can keep their existing digital set top box on another television set for free until 31st December 2010.

Besides offering access to HD TV, the new set top box will allow customers to pause, record and rewind live television at will and to make use of a completely re-designed Electronic Programme Guide and a fully fledged media centre which includes a massive 320Gb in-built hard disk and USB inputs.

To get a taste of the extraordinary picture detail of high definition television, Melita is showcasing the new Melita netbox HD and HD channels in Melita’s outlets in Paola, Naxxar and Valletta.

Melita netbox HD Features

• Advanced Hybrid Technology
  • melita netbox HD is an advanced Hybrid set-top-box which merges the best Digital Television Broadcast (DVB) technology with Internet Television (IPTV); incorporating the most advanced video decoding technology.
• Interactive Internet Television ready
  • melita netbox HD is fully interactive, ready for Over-The-Top Internet video such as YouTube.
• Radio Frequency (RF) Remote Control
  • With the stylish melita netbox HD RF Remote Control, you do not need to point the Remote Control Unit in the direction of the Set-top-box, and can operate from any location within a distance of 8 meters. The melita netbox HD is also compatible with Infra-Red (IR) Remote Control.
• UPnP Media Centre
  • melita netbox HD UPnP Media Centre allows you to view or listen to videos, photos and music stored on your PC and other UPnP enabled devices on your home network, directly on your TV in High Definition. The melita netbox HD can also access content from any USB device.