Singapore drops standard STB plans
May 28, 2012
The Singaporean Government has postponed the implementation of standardised television set-top boxes, which was initially scheduled for launch at a later stage in 2012.
Regulator Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) has decided not to award the contract to any of the three bidders, namely Singnet, Starhub and M1, suggesting that none of the bids were “likely to achieve the desired outcomes”.”
The project,- Next Generation Interactive Multimedia, Applications and Services (Nims) – was started in August 2009 by IDA and the Media Development Authority (MDA).
In May 2011, IDA requested proposals from potential set-top box makers.
By introducing Nims, the aim was to increase content variety by opening up the pay-TV sector and reduce the set-top box clutter in homes and deliver content over Singapore’s ultra-fast fibre broadband network.
The regulator said there were still issues such as billing across operators, open access to the box and common technical standards to iron out.