Singapore Telecommunications (http://www.singtel.com/) has announced the launch of a pay TV service that offers video-on-demand over its broadband network.

Interactivity will be a key feature of the new Internet protocol TV (IPTV) offering. The 33-channel mio TV allows customers to select and pay only for the programmes that they want to watch, instead of having to subscribe to a bundle of programmes.

Interactivity will be a key feature of the 33-channel mio TV service.

Viewers can search for content by genre, by title or by actor's name. They will also be able to pause, rewind and record live TV programmes if they opt for a set-top box with a recording function. The mio TV website allows viewers to programme their recordings even when they are not at home, and an upcoming service will enable them to do it via their mobile phones.

"This is the future of television - a world where viewers are able to control their own instant replays, pause the 'live' news to get a drink and command their set-top box to record a programme even when they're out for dinner," said Mr Allen Lew, SingTel's Chief Executive Officer Singapore. The mio TV set-top box allows one channel to be recorded while watching another and has a capacity of 80 hours of recording.

According to SingTel, mio TV is currently available to 85 per cent of homes in Singapore, and the rest will be able to come on board when their phone systems are upgraded. Subscribers do not have to be SingTel broadband customers.

With the on-demand option, viewers can choose from up to 25 selected movies for unlimited viewing for only $12 per month. Mio TV features blockbuster movies form major Hollywood movie studios including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox and Disney. A deal with Sony Pictures Television International allows subscribers to view Sony's upcoming slate of feature films at the same time as the DVD release. MediaCorp's free-to-air high definition (HD) channel, HD5, will also be available on mio TV, putting Singapore among the world's first to have a free-to-air HD channel carried on an IPTV platform.

For more information on Residential Broadband Services in Singapore, visit www.ida.gov.sg/Publications/20061213184450.aspx