A joint venture between Taiwan's Koos Group (
"Starting from Oct. 1, our 80,000 cable-TV subscribers in Chungho and Yungho districts will begin to enjoy high-quality, digital-TV content," said Daniel Cheung (
Digital TV will soon replace analog TV, not only because of improved picture quality, but also because it can pack more signals on a single line, such as telephone, interactive TV and high-speed Internet connections.
The company is predicting the service will win over 5 million cable-TV subscribers by 2006.
Back in May 2001, Star Group invested US$240 million in cable systems owned by the Koos Group and formed China Network Systems, of which Koos Group holds a 80 percent stake while Star owns the remaining 20 percent.
Star, a wholly owned subsidiary of global media giant News Corp, operates 30 distributed services in seven languages in 53 Asian countries.
The Koos Group has ties to 12 regional cable system partners and has access to more than 1 million households throughout Taiwan, according to the company.
"This is a huge investment ... and we hope to break even in five years," Cheung said.
The service will revolutionize the development of Taiwan's cable-TV industry, he said.
New line-up
In addition to the existing 80 cable TV channels, China Network will add TVB8, Channel [V] International, Voyages and Adventure One to its line-up.
By connecting a digital set-top-box, viewers can enjoy a broadcast signal similar to viewing a DVD video with CD audio quality.
To promote the new product, China Network will offer the services at NT$560 per month, the same rate charged for analog cable services, along with a NT$1,500 deposit on set-top boxes.
"We want to attract more subscribers to digital services, so we set the price relatively low," Cheung said.
A market analyst said China Network's strategy is viable.
"Taiwanese are less likely to spend a lot to watch TV ... to a certain degree they regard TV as a free service, just like listening to the radio," said Tony Wu (吳顯東), a senior researcher at the Market Intelligence Center, a government-founded information-technology think tank.
Price will play an important role in deploying digital cable-TV services, Wu said.
The premium tier digital cable service offered in the UK is priced at about NT$1,500 for the entire package, or NT$150 per pay-channel, Cheung said.
The company soon plans to also offer pay-per-view and premium channels for an extra fee.
"We've talked with a number of content providers. Once the government lifts the price ceiling on cable TV, our company will offer pay-channels," Cheung said.
According to the Governments Information Office, the monthly cable-TV fee is not allowed to exceed NT$600 per month.
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