Singapore to provide DTV Starter Kits to HDB households without Pay TV

Digital TV Starter Kits for all Singaporean non-Pay TV HDB households

SINGAPORE — The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) will offer a DTV Starter Kit to all Singaporean HDB households which do not subscribe to Pay-TV, thus helping these households continue to enjoy local free-to-air TV programmes after analogue TV signals are switched off on 31 December 2018. The DTV Starter Kit was announced by Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information, at IMDA’s annual partners’ appreciation event earlier this evening.

Each DTV Starter Kit will allow eligible households to either redeem an indoor antenna and digital set-top box for free (including free delivery and installation), or enjoy $100 off selected DTV equipment at participating electronics stores.

Eligible households will receive a letter explaining how the DTV Starter Kit can be used. Letters will be sent out in batches from April to June 2018. Redemption of the DTV Starter Kit will end on 31 December 2018.

Singapore will cease analogue TV broadcast on 31 December 2018. Starting 1 January 2019, free-to-air TV programmes will only be shown in digital format. Viewers who currently see the “Analogue” channel logo below on the top-right hand corner of their TV screens will need to switch over to DTV.

About three quarters of Singapore households are already watching DTV either over-the-air, or through their Pay TV subscription. IMDA launched its DTV Assistance Scheme in 2014 to help low-income households switch to DTV. The DTV Starter Kit is an expansion of the DTV Assistance Scheme to help more households make the switch to DTV.

With DTV, viewers will enjoy a better free-to-air viewing experience with high definition pictures and sound, alongside interactive features such as multi-language subtitles and electronic programme guides. DTV also allows viewers with Toggle Red Button-registered TV sets to access Mediacorp TV shows, Toggle Original content and Catch-Up TV. Singapore’s switch to DTV also frees up scarce radio frequency spectrum, which will be used to provide better quality and higher mobile broadband speeds, ultimately improving end-user experience. Please refer to the Annex for more details about DTV.