Prime Minister Najib Razak said the free decoders, worth RM199, would be provided by the government to bridge the gap between rural and urban communities.

“In addition to the commitment by MYTV Broadcasting Sdn Bhd to give two million decoders, the government has agreed to provide 2.2 million free decoders.”

Launching the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) services, known as myFreeview, Najib said the shift to digital television is part of the government’s aim to prepare the nation to move into the digital era.

More than 60 countries had already migrated from analogue to digital television since 2007, he said.

“With access to full digital TV, Malaysians can be better equipped with knowledge and ensure the nation is on par with other developed nations in terms of technology in this digital era.”

Najib also set a target for Malaysia to close down its analogue broadcasting by June 2018.

“Other countries in the Asean region have set a target to stop analogue broadcasting in phases from 2015 to 2020,” he said.

Najib added that myFreeview aimed to cover 98% of the Malaysian population by the last quarter of this year.

Currently, 24 television transmitters are being deployed to enable this.

MYTV Broadcasting has been appointed by the government to develop and operate the infrastructure and network facilities for myFreeview services in Malaysia.

Viewers will get access to nine terrestrial TV stations – TV1, TV2, TVi, TV AlHijrah, TV3, ntv7, 8TV, TV9 and Bernama News Channel – as well as four RTM radio stations.