S'pore starts work on cable TV plan

S'pore starts work on cable TV plan

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore has begun building a US$500-million ($340-million) cable television network, with some 20,000 homes expected to be wired for 30 channels by the middle of next year, Singapore CableVision officials have said.

"We are going at a very aggressive pace. It is our goal to wire up Singapore as fast as we can," CableVision President Randall Coleman said, and added that the network would provide viewers with "value and variety programming."

CableVision officials said that some 20,000 households at a model township, Tampines, on Singapore's east coast, will be the first recipients of cable television when the service is launched with 25 to 30 channels by July next year.

The officials said that all of Singapore's 750,000 households, office blocks and other establishments will be covered by a state-of-the-art fiber optic cable system carrying 64 channels by 1998.

"We would love to have all Singaporeans enjoy the benefits of cable television simultaneously, but the logistics of laying the infrastructure just does not allow us to do it," Coleman said. Singapore CableVision is a four-member consortium including Singapore International Media, which operates government-owned radio and television, Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore Technologies Venture and Continental Cablevision Inc. of America.

Officials have said that some of the channels would exclusively carry programs in French, Japanese, German and possibly other languages, and, at a later date, some interactive programming.

But Coleman said that CableVision had not yet decided whether to offer a video-on-demand service. "That is relatively new technology being experimented with. It is really something of the future," he said.

All programming will be subject to supervision by a recently established broadcasting authority that has wide powers to ensure that family and other values promoted by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's government are not eroded.

"All programming offering will be subject to SBA (Singapore Broadcasting Authority) approval, while commercial negotiations (for programs) will also be subject to SBA approval," Coleman said.

But the SBA is unlikely to step in as long as broadcasters abide by a general code it has drawn up to ensure minimum standards of decency are respected.

"We have not encountered any difficulties with any programs," said Daniel Goh, CableVision's executive vice president, about a three-channel pay television channel that the company operates through ultra-high frequency transmissions.