Digital cable network provider to build five hubs in Johor

JOHOR BARU: Digital cable network provider Asian Broadcasting Network (M) Sdn Bhd will be able to provide wider coverage in Johor with the construction of five hubs in the state.

After launching in the Klang Valley in June last year, the company branched out into Johor to offer both HD TV and high-speed broadband services at more affordable rates.

The company offers high-speed Internet packages from five megabytes per second (Mbps) to 50 Mbps and a suit of over 120 television and radio channels and add-on entertainment, education, sitcoms and other local and foreign contents.

Its president and chief executive officer S. Sreedhar said that the company was placing its focus in Johor because there was subscription potential in the state based on its optimistic take-up rate.

Prioritising Johor Baru before moving to other districts, Sreedhar said that the hubs in Stulang 1 and 2 would cover approximately 16 precincts and communities from Johor Jaya to Taman Molek and Taman Abad to Taman Tasek respectively.

The Skudai Hubs cover 18 areas from Taman Melawati to Taman Sri Putri and Taman Nusa Bestari to Taman Tampoi Indah.

“Our development and infrastructure work are on-going in areas like Permas Jaya and we expect to move on to Johor Jaya and Skudai within the next couple of months,” he said when met at its Johor Baru service centre in Permas Jaya here.

He said that the infrastructure works have been completed in Taman Serene, Taman Sri Tebrau, Taman Sentosa, Taman Pelangi, Taman Maju Jaya and Sri Stulang Flats and Taman Iskandar Flats.

The infrastructure works are target to complete by end May this year for Permas Jaya, end October for Johor Jaya and December for Skudai.

“Another distinct feature of ours is the technology as we use hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) digital network technology, which enables us to offer the most sophisticated Internet speed in the market for homes,” he added.

The company offers a 10Mbps Internet package at RM98.99, which is the lowest in the market and includes free installation and unlimited data.

Sreedhar also said that the company would be focusing on Johor Baru before moving to offer such services to other districts like Batu Pahat and Muar.

On future plans, he added that the company would be allocating RM2bil to upgrade and expand its services to other states in the next four years.

He said that they would be opening up branches in Malacca in May and Seremban and Ipoh later in the year.

He said that the company was in talks with the Penang government on its plans to bring their services over to the state soon.

Sreedhar added that this was the company’s effort to achieve its target to reach five million homes nationwide in four years’ time.

“We foresee that we will be able to offer up to 200 cable channels by next year from the current 120 channels and at least 500 channels from 2015 onwards,” he said.

He added that the allocation also included opening a second service centre in Johor in Skudai, to cater to the growing market in the state.

Sreedhar added that the company had 30,000 subscribers and the numbers were growing by the day.

He also said that 70% of the channels provided by the digital cable service were never-before-seen in Malaysia, offering a wide range of genres from gaming, live concerts and lifestyle.