SUBSCRIPTION OF SATELLITE TELEVISION (Regulations)

Column No : 1807

SUBSCRIPTION OF SATELLITE TELEVISION:

(Regulations): 16.

Prof. Ivan Png Paak Liang asked the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts if he will relax regulations that prohibit Singaporeans from subscribing to satellite television.

The Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (Dr Lee Boon Yang): Mr Speaker, Sir, the satellite TV policy has been debated several times in this House on previous occasions. The installation of satellite dishes for households has been disallowed to keep out undesirable content that is at odds with Singapore's multi-racial and multi-religious society. This was why we have built up the cable network nationwide, so that Singaporeans would nonetheless be able to subscribe and enjoy a wider range of television programmes. In terms of content and programming, the digital cable TV in operation today has the capacity to offer nearly as much choice as satellite television, not quite but nearly.

Nevertheless, the Government has constantly reviewed the satellite TV policy over the years, and where it was necessary to relax satellite TV regulations, the Government had done so. For instance, banks, financial institutions and commercial organisations with the need for time-sensitive information are already permitted to install satellite dishes to access satellite TV. More recently, we have also allowed hotels, tertiary and technical institutes, international schools and hospitals to have access to satellite TV for restricted use.

Sir, however, the reasons why we should prevent undesirable content from easy entry to the homes of Singaporeans through satellite dishes remain valid and important. In the face of increasing security challenges worldwide today, we must continue to be vigilant against external influences that may seek to split or divide our society.

Going forward, the Government will continue to constantly review the satellite TV policy to ensure that our regulations keep pace with technological developments and trends in the entertainment industry. The Media Development Authoritywill continue to work towards a regulatory environment that ensures a wider choice of TV content and range of broadcast platforms available in Singapore. But this must be guided by the need to remain vigilant and steadfast in our duty to safeguard the racial and religious harmony of our society. Until we can fully and viably address the potentially adverse social effects of allowing households to install satellite dishes, we will have to continue to disallow satellite dishes to be installed in our homes.

Prof. Ivan Png Paak Liang (Nominated Member): Sir, I thank the Minister for the answer. I have two supplementary questions. First, I understand that thereare a lot of choices available on cable TV. Indeed, there is even more content available on the Internet, as the Government has said so many times. Since we are not fearful of what is available on the Internet, we should not be fearful of what is available on satellite TV.

My supplementary question is this. Content is one issue. The other issue is choice and pricing. We have only one cable TV provider. Would the Ministry not consider the introduction of satellite TV from the point of view of competitiveness as well as from content? Namely, we have no way to make sure that our cable TV provider provides good choices atlow prices, because no one else wants to provide cable TV. The obvious way is a technologically neutral policy which admits satellite TV as a competitor to cable TV.

My second supplementary question is: does the Ministry also regulate the use of global positioning system (GPS) receivers in Singapore? Are there any restrictions in Singapore on the use of GPS receivers?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, I think we should make a distinction between broadcast and what is available on the Internet. The fact thatSingaporeans have full access to theInternet and through broadband technology they have rapid access to almost any content that is available on the Internet does not mean that we should try to replicate everything that goes onin the Internet in our broadcast environment, which is very much a part of our public arena.The Internet, while it is freely accessible, is still a matter ofindividual choice of which website he wants to access and what services he wants to look for. I think we should not try to replicate everything that is on the Internet in any of our public arena just because people have access to the Internet.

On competition, I agree with the Nominated Member of Parliament that we should try as far as possible to have more competition in our pay TV sector. Members will recall that in 2003 when the monopoly for the Singapore Cable Vision's pay TV service came to an end, my Ministry, in fact, issued an invitation for bidders to a second pay TV licence. On hindsight, Mr Speaker, Sir, the timing was not perfect. We had just come through the regional economic downturn compounded by the appearance of SARS in early 2003.The economic scenario was rather bleak at that point in time. So it was not surprising therefore that there were no interested parties bidding for the second pay TV licence. We said at that time when the outcome of the exercise became known that there was no bidder,that we would continue to explore the possibility of introducing a second pay TV operator. And the purpose is, of course,exactlywhat the Member is suggesting - introduce competition in the pay TV market so that consumers in Singapore can have more choices and, hopefully, through competition, there will be even a greater variety of content made available to our consumers.

Let me assure this House that my Ministry is continuing to examine the possibility of introducing a second TV operator and we will considerall the various technological platforms that are available for a second TV operator to be commercially viable and successful.

On the regulation of GPS receivers, I think it is not quite related to TV RO. I believe that GPS receivers are already available in Singapore. Cars are equipped with such GPS devices to help drivers navigate. There are many other applications where GPS receivers are installed. I do not think that they are in the same kettle of fish as satellite TV ROs.

Prof. Ivan Png Paak Liang: I thank the Minister for the answer. I just want to reiterate to the Ministerthat we know there is very little economic ground for another pay cable TV operator to come in, because they just cannot earn the required return on investment of the network. That is why I have asked the Minister to please consider using satellite TV as the way to ensure good enough competition with the cable TV company.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker,: Sir, we do understand that to specify a second pay TV operator should also install a fibre network is not a commercially attractive proposition because the cost is quite high. So we are prepared to examine various alternatives. That is why I mentioned earlier on that we will study the different technological platforms that can enable a second pay TV operator to roll out his service.

Mr Sin Boon Ann (Tampines): Sir, thank you for your indulgence. I just want to raise a point of clarification. I think the point was made earlier that if there is very little restriction toaccess on content in the Internet, why can the Government not allow people to then subscribe for satellite television if they are broadcast from outside of Singapore? Because, equally, you have access to content that would otherwise be available on the Internet.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, my explanation is that we should try to make a distinction. The Internet has grown to become a very pervasive medium, reaching globally to all communities. There are lots of good aspects and there are also a lot of bad aspects of the Internet. But we leave it to people in the privacy of their homes and working on their computers to decide how they want to access this medium and what they want to have delivered to themselves through the Internet. In the case of parents who are concerned with their children's access to the Internet, we have always advised them that when they sign up for Internet access from their households, they shouldsign up for what is called family-friendly access network where the Internet service provider will ensure that their children do not have access to undesirable contents. So there is this element which will enable parents protect their children from the undesirable side of the Internet.

Having said that, we concede that there is no way that we could effectively regulate what goes on on the Internet, because that was how the Internet was designed to be beyond most regulation. In terms of content, we have only salutarily blocked access to 100 websites. In fact, a recent study by a group called the Open Network Initiative in the US showed that in Singapore, there is hardly anyobstruction created by the regulator for access to the Internet and that we are truly an open network society. But that does not mean that we should allow the broadcast media to adopt the same approach to broadcast anything directly into the homes of our people. I think that is a totally different matter. Of course, we also understand that with technology evolving so rapidly, maybe one day it may not be possible for the Government to even regulate access to satellite television content. When that day comes about, we will then review our policy again and see how we deal with the situation. As of now, it is still within our ability to regulate the installation of satellite dishes for direct access to TV broadcast and we will continue to do so for the time being.