Astro Shareholders Approve M3c Satellite's Transponder Capacity Utilisation

 July 3 (Bernama)

 Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd plans to utilise transponder capacity on the Measat-3c (M3c) satellite for a fee of RM500 million over a period of 15 years from its commencement date.

The M3c satellite, which is expected to be launched by the third quarter of 2015, is intended to enhance Astro's existing transponder capacity.

Astro Chief Executive Officer Datuk Rohana Rozhan said:"We are taking 18 more transponders over three years commencing next year.

"This will in theory give us the ability to double up our broadcast capacity and operational redundancy.

"However, our focus is on introduction of premium services like HD (high-definition), PVR (personal video recorder), Astro First and Astro Best, which are our Video-On-Demand services."

Rohana was speaking at a media briefing after the company's annual general meeting and extraordinary general meeting, held Wednesday.

At the EGM, the group received the shareholders' approval for the utilisation of the M3c satellite transponder.

Rohana said the investment would be funded internally.

The additional transponders on the M3c satellite are expected to expand the group's broadcasting capacity to support the transmission of additional high definition channels to its subscribers.

Currently, Astro has 18 transponders with 170 channels which has almost reached full capacity.

Next year, it will start utilising an additional 18 transponders over a period of three years.

Upon completion of the utilisation of M3c transponders, Astro will have up to 161 standard definition channels and 114 HD channels in the future.

"The launching of the new channels will allow us to widen and deepen our relationship with our customers, existing as well as new ones," said Rohana.