Maldives to launch cable TV service in 2015

Start-up company Play Cast Maldives has begun rolling out a cable TV network to provide HD and ultra HD services across the island nation after a broadcasting licence was awarded this month.

Test broadcasts are expected to commence in January 2015 with coverage across Male’ scheduled by the end of 2015, Rapid TV News resports.

“This place needs some competition. This shouldn’t be done by one party. Prices will be different. Therefore, we are looking to go full throttle,” Mohamed Fayaz, managing director, PlayCast, told local reporters.

The full HD and ultra HD service would start with about 60 channels, but would be expanded to 150 channels, added Fayaz – a founder of cable TV company J-Sat Cable Vision, which merged with MESCO’s CableNET to become MediaNet, the leading pay-TV operator in the Maldives.

The PlayCast service would be expanded to cover all the Atolls, he said, to include free local channels as well as subscription content.

Telecommunications company Dhiraagu , which was given permission to provide cable television services in the Maldives in 2013, is not yet operational.