Melita’s High Definition TV service was officially inaugurated this morning by Communications Minister Austin Gatt at Melita’s retail outlet in Naxxar.
This week, Melita started installations, both in commercial outlets and households, of its new Melita netbox HD – a new intelligent set top box similar to a mini computer which is revolutionizing the TV experience by making High Definition (HD) television possible and also by personalizing the TV viewing experience through the facilities of pausing, rewinding and recording live television.
“This is a big day for Melita and for the Maltese Islands. Earlier this year, we committed ourselves to a multi-million euro investment programme to upgrade our services, in particular our TV offering.
“We have increased the channel line-up to 150 channels at no extra cost to customers and introduced high definition content.
“We plan to continue investing further in this area to offer on-demand content for a truly personalised experience” said Andrei Torriani, chief executive officer for Melita.
He added:
“We are proud to be the first operator to offer high definition television to Maltese and Gozitan families.
“This is a very important milestone in the progression of television services in Malta.
“We promised to transform TV viewing in Malta from a linear model controlled by TV station managers to a personalised experience where our customers can watch what they want, when they want. This is the promise we are delivering today.”
He said that Melita’s HD content is not limited to sports only.
Melita is offering 10 new HD channels which will be added for free to the XL channel line-up with including Discovery HD Showcase, Nat Geo HD, Nat Geo Wild HD, Rush HD, iConcerts HD, Eurosport HD, History HD, Luxe TV HD, FTV HD and MTVN HD.
Melita’s High Definition television service is being launched right in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup matches.
Every single action in South Africa will spring to life on a dedicated sports HD channel with English commentary and with Italian commentary for matches played by the Italian national team.
All matches will also be broadcast in standard definition. After an agreement with PBS, operators of the national TV station TVM, Melita and TVM are sharing broadcasting rights for the World Cup matches leaving viewers and football fans spoilt for choice in how to watch the World Cup.
The World Cup is also available for free on Melita through TVM which will broadcast 46 live matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
For those who subscribe to Melita HD by the end of June, Melita is offering free installation of the new netbox HD and is also waiving the monthly rental fee of the set top box (€10 a month) until October 1.
Melita subscribers who are currently subscribed to Melita’s digital television can keep their existing digital set top box on another television set for free December 31.
Besides offering access to HD TV, the new set top box will allow customers to pause, record and rewind live television at will and to make use of a completely re-designed Electronic Programme Guide and a fully fledged media centre which includes a massive 320Gb in-built hard disk and USB inputs.
To get a taste of the extraordinary picture detail of high definition television, Melita is showcasing the new melita netbox HD and HD channels in Melita’s outlets in Paola, Naxxar and Valletta.
www.melita.com/HD