Television in Singapore

Information on the TV standards in Singapore and terrestrial, satellite, fibre and cable television...

  • There are three main TV providers in Singapore:
  • terrestrial television (digital in December 2013) offers seven free tv channels and one HD channel
  • Starhub: cable television
  • Mio TV: optical fibre and phone line television

There are also smaller providers offering streaming TV services, or bundled telecommunications packages. For more information on TV and telecoms providers, see the Computers & Telecoms category of the Angloinfo Singapore Business Directory.

There is no TV licence fee.

Digital Switchover

Analogue TV sets that work on the PAL B/G system will work in Singapore. NTSC sets from the USA, Canada and Japan will not work, and neither will SECAM sets from France and Eastern Europe.

Singapore started switch from analogue TV to the digital DVB-T2 standard in December 2013. The analogue signal will not be turned off until the switchover is completed sometime between 2015 and 2020. After this time, it will still be possible to use older analogue TV sets with a DVB-T2 digital set-top box.

When buying a new television, it is advisable to check for an "all set for digital" label. This indicated that the TV has an inbuilt DVB-T2 receiver.

Cable TV

Many choose to subscribe to cable, telephone and internet package deals.

StarHub provides many English-language news, entertainment and lifestyle channels. As StarHub also provides Internet and phone plans, combined deals are available.

StarHub will install cable in the house or apartment if cable sockets are not already there. A TV will need a set-top box in order to receive cable TV. These must be rented from StarHub, and vary in price. An activation fee may be charged.

Singtel TV

Singtel TV is a pay TV service with a wide variety of HD channels, programmes and movies. The Mio TV signal is transmitted via residential telephone lines and optical fibre cables, and converted by a number of set-top boxes attached to televisions.

Further Information

Find reputable Movies, Cinemas & Films & Computer & Telecoms companies through our local business listings.


Picture courtesy of  Joe Goldberg