High-definition TV is coming to Malta thanks to Melita and football fans will be the first to enjoy the high quality transmission during the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in June. Melita has acquired exclusive TV rights to broadcast the tournament in HD in Malta while sharing rights with TVM to broadcast all World Cup games in standard definition with English and Italian commentary.

Melita first started its HD trials in August 2007 and members of the public were enrolled to test the service for a few months.

"The trials made in 2007 were technically a success but it was deemed too early to launch in the local market. It was a commercial decision to wait until the local market was ready for it," Simon Montanaro, chief technology officer at Melita, explained.

"In these three years the technology has matured and we also have a better set-up and a far more advanced set-top box in hand. It's a good time now to launch HD, particularly as there are more linear channels broadcasting in HD. From a football perspective, if past editions of the World Cup are anything to go by, my team and I will be will be spending the better part of the tournament up here in Madliena as we will be tied up here making sure viewers get the best experience out of this service."

Melita's HD set-top box, which is the interface between Melita's network and the TV, is an interactive device which, other than offering HD and standard definition viewing, can be used to pause and record live or scheduled transmissions for viewing at leisure.

It is a secure media center that will be able, over time, to integrate into several services.

Other than the typical DVB (digital video broadcasting) standards, the selected set-top box also has internet protocol (IP) TV capabilities which are under consideration for future use. The model to be used in Malta is manufactured by Netgem and has already been deployed with significant success in millions of homes around the world.

The box supports what is typically referred to as full HD at a resolution of 1920 x 1080p but, as Mr Montanaro explains, people understand different things by 'HD': "There is no one single definition for a high-definition television signal. An HD signal can be available at a resolution of 1080 x 756 and is sometimes referred to as 'HD ready'. Melita's set-top box will support high bit rates with advanced video and audio codecs including MPEG 4- H264 and Dolby Digital 5.1. We are currently researching the potential of broadcasting 3D through this unit, which seems to be the next evolutionary step in the television experience."

Melita is working on expanding the range of HD channels. This will complement a substantial increase in standard-definition channels in the coming weeks as the company already announced a channel line-up of 150 channels.

"Beyond the World Cup we are already looking at different genres of HD channels for the coming months, like documentary channels. We want to offer something that goes beyond football. Our intention is to offer a high-end experience that will develop over time. HD is not the final step, by any means."

Providing a TV service means you are in control of most, but not all factors. Environmental conditions can and do affect the reception of foreign channels despite investment in advanced equipment, like enormous satellite dishes and layers of redundancy in the telecom centre. The quality of source transmissions from TV channels is often out of Melita's hands as frequently the only option is to take what is available. Another example where Melita is continually trying to improve is on its EPG (electronic programme guide) where the recurring issue is when stations change their programme schedule without adequate notice, resulting in an outdated EPG on customers' set-top boxes.

Asked about the potential of having Maltese stations in HD, Mr Montanaro replied: "Technically, local TV stations can definitely be rebroadcast in HD on Melita's platform but we have not looked at this from an operational aspect yet. It is likely that the stations would also require investment in their studio solutions to acquire this capability."

Customers can register their interest in Melita's HD TV service at www.melita.com/HD. Installations will start in May, in time for the start of the football World Cup.