According to The Star and ABN News, digital cable network provider Asian Broadcasting Network (M) Sdn Bhd (ABNxcess) will be allocating RM 2 billion to upgrade and expand its services to other states in the next four years. It is part of the company’s plan to offer affordable internet and cable television to the masses.

Its president and chief executive officer S. Sreedhar said that besides the Klang Valley and Johor, the company would be opening up branches in Malacca in May and Seremban and Ipoh by year-end. He said that the company was in talks with the Penang government on its plans to bring their services over to the state soon.

Sreedhar added that this was the company’s effort to achieve its target to reach one million subscribers in three years’ time and five million homes nationwide in four years. “We foresee that we will be able to offer up to 200 cable channels by next year from the current 120 channels and at least 500 channels from 2015 onwards,” he said in a media briefing at its Johor Bahru service centre in Permas Jaya on March 26. The company currently has more than 80 cable channels on offer.

He said that the allocation also included opening a second service centre in Skudai, Johor, to cater to the growing market in the state, which currently has more than 500 subscribers since setting up shop in Johor late last year.

ABNxcess, which would be available beginning April, is Malaysia’s first pay-TV operator to launch in over a decade, offering both HD TV and high-speed broadband services at more affordable rates than its competitors.

Sreedhar added that the company has 30,000 subscribers and the numbers were growing by the day.

He also said that 70% of the channels provided by the digital cable service were never-before-seen in Malaysia, offering a wide range of genres from gaming, live concerts and lifestyle with the Internet speed of 10Mbps.