Update on Status of Digital TV (DTV) Conversion

Mr Ang Hin Kee asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) whether he can provide an update on the status of the digital TV (DTV) conversion till date including key learning points from this exercise; and (b) what are the challenges raised by households who have yet to switch to DTV and what kind of assistance will be available to these households.

Mr S Iswaran: On 1 January 2019, we switched off analogue free-to-air signals, and transitioned fully to Digital TV or DTV. Today nine in ten Singaporean households can watch DTV, either over the air or through their Pay TV subscriptions. Based on outreach by the Info-communications Media Development Authority or IMDA, the remainder have not switched over primarily because they do not have TVs or they already have access to free-to-air TV through other means such as Toggle.

This was not an easy transition. We had to reach out to more than 540,000 households to migrate them to DTV, and work with Mediacorp to install a nation-wide DTV broadcasting network. The smooth migration was made possible by an intensive outreach campaign led by IMDA, which helped 416,000 households, or 77% of eligible households, to switch over to DTV through the DTV Starter Kit programme launched in April last year. I would also like to thank agencies, grassroots advisors and the more than 2,000 volunteers for helping us through this exercise.

Although we have crossed over fully to DTV, we recognise that there are some households which may not yet have switched over. IMDA has therefore extended the DTV Starter Kit application deadline to 31 March 2019 to help eligible households through this transition. IMDA will also continue advising other households how to switch to DTV, and work with Mediacorp to provide technical support to households.