Malaysian satellite television provider evolves as Astro embarks on a new frontier, with its B.yond high definition service.

What is the difference between Astro’s current service and its new rollout; Astro B.yond? In essence, Astro B.yond is a high definition (HD) service, offering up to 1080i resolution over the air.

The service promises to bring high definition to the Malaysian market, with programmes ranging from movies to documentaries – in HD, of course. Business Today has the scoop as we tracked down Paul Dale, Chief Technology Officer for Astro, to talk about the new service rollout.

Business Today (BT): What do you think about the Malaysian entertainment market in general?

Paul Dale, Chief Technology Officer, Astro

Paul Dale: What fascinates me the most about Malaysia, and this is just not limited to the entertainment scene, is how diverse it is. Our CEO, Dato’ Rohana Rozhan could not have put it more succinctly – Malaysia is indeed “Truly Asia.” It is multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-cultural. The economic landscape is divided between an urban population with access to first world infrastructure, and an extremely rural population with some areas not even reached by terrestrial television yet. On top of which, Malaysia has 50% of its young population trending towards urbanisation, and increasingly embracing a digital lifestyle. These factors make the Malaysian entertainment market incredibly dynamic and challenging at the same time. How content is consumed by polarising audiences is a critical differentiator.

BT: How ready is the Malaysian market to embrace HD?

Dale: The arrival of HD in Malaysia could not have come at a more opportune time, when the market is already clamouring for HD content. An industry report showed that 59% of the TV sets sold in Malaysia in 1H 2009 were HD-ready. HD-ready TV penetration could go as high up as 33% in 2013 from the current 10% below mark –confirming to trends seen at other more developed countries. It is also interesting to note that prices of HDTV units have significantly gone down. An HD-ready TV could cost at an identical price to that of a Colour TV when it was launched in Malaysia

BT: Is the HD broadcast limited to major cities or every nook and cranny of Malaysia is HD ready?

Dale: Astro B.yond broadcasts to the whole of Malaysia. At almost 50% penetration of all Malaysian homes, we make sure that infrastructure and systems are in place before we rollout a new service. However, there are a number of Astro subscribers who share a centralised dish on a communal system and in order to receive the HD transmission these systems need to be rewired.

HD broadcasts use five times more satellite capacity compared to standard definition (SD), therefore Astro has had to put all its HD channels on the new Measat 3a satellite. Each Astro B.yond box is being installed so that, using a system called DiSEqC, it can independently switch between the Measat 3 and Measat 3a satellites as it tunes to both the SD and HD channels. As communal systems are rewired every Astro B.yond Box will independently be able switch to each satellite just as if it had its own dedicated dish.

BT: You mentioned before in another event that it only took Astro 6 months from planning to initial roll out of its HD broadcast. Why the speed?

Dale: Astro’s decision to launch HD was taken in April 2009 and was based on the latest technology being available and at the right cost. Many other early HD broadcasters around the world are left with legacy systems and decoders to support, all of which contributes to a higher cost which has to be passed on to the subscriber.

In April, we identified the HD opportunity for our next generation decoder and, once Measat 3a was successfully launched, we placed our first decoder order for delivery in December 2009. Typically to start production of a new decoder takes up to one year. But working with our manufacturers, Astro reduced this timescale in order to get the new technology in to the market as quickly as possible, timed to coincide with the end of our existing SD decoder supplies.

But this wasn’t the only challenge, there is no point having a HD decoder in Malaysian homes without any HD content to watch, so we also started the construction of a brand new HD broadcast facility also timed to “go live” in December 2009. In June 2009, the only HD equipment at Astro was the BlueRay player in my office. By the end of 2009, we were playing out and broadcasting Malaysia’s first HD channels using a completely new end-to-end infrastructure, quite an achievement.

BT: In line with the previous question, is Astro ready with the inevitable bugs that will pop up when the system goes nationwide en mass?

Astro B.yond Decoder

Dale: The Astro B.yond box is a complex piece of consumer electronics and yes, there will be some inevitable glitches along the way. Unlike previous decoders, the Astro B.yond box will be licensing the world’s leading software to run on it and in doing so we have adopted a software roadmap for the Astro B.yond Box that will grow and evolve over time.

Simply by putting the Astro B.yond box in to standby it checks to see if it is running the latest software. If it is not, then it automatically download the latest software from the satellite or online. We can also reveal that in mid 2010, we will enable the recording functionality allowing every Astro B.yond Box to become a Digital Video Recorder through the addition of an external USB hard drive.

BT: Astro is going HD now. What is in store in the future for the company in terms of technology?

Dale: Astro B.yond is not just about High-Definition or Satellite TV, as the technology infrastructure and hardware around Astro B.yond is future-ready. For example in the future, new software will be downloaded to all Astro B.yond Boxes that will enable new services such as IPTV connectivity.