KUALA LUMPUR: Astro All Asia Networks plc’s wholly owned subsidiary, Measat Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd (MBNS), has successfully migrated to the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA) licensing regime.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Astro said it had secured new licences from the government for new content applications service provider, network service provider and network facilities provider (dated Feb 2, 2010) under the CMA.

Astro said the migration was on “terms that are no worse off to MBNS” and did not have any material effect on the business and operations of the group. Astro has an exclusive licence for satellite direct-to-home (DTH) transmission in the country until 2017. Astro’s securing of these licences from the government will now put to rest the requirement for the company to migrate its licence to the most current communication laws in the country — the CMA.”

Its licence was issued under two Acts in 1997 — the Telecommunications Act and Broadcasting Act, which were repealed and subsequently replaced by the CMA.

In a statement in September last year which was also reported in The Edge Financial Daily, Astro CEO Datuk Rohana Rozhan, who was in talks then with the government to migrate to the CMA regime, said she wanted Astro’s “existing rights and privileges to be retained”.

It has been reported earlier that the government was reviewing Astro’s exclusive 20-year operating licence and had wanted it to include more government-friendly programmes.

According to news reports, there was a review on Astro’s licence because it had several run-ins with the government over its content, with government officials saying that opposition politicians were getting better air time on several channels.

Subsequently, Reuters cited an unnamed government official as saying that the talks for the migration of licences were “to regulate its operations, not for political control” which included Astro’s ability to raise prices without reference to the government.

Reuters then also quoted an Astro spokeswoman as saying the company was in talks on migration to a new licensing framework, but added that there had been no pressure to change content.


This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, March 30, 2010.