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Cutting the cord makes its way to Southeast Asia Cheyenne Hollis
At the start of the year, there was a major
vary, subscribing to them still provides
allegedly providing pirated broadcasts
kerfuffle in Thailand when True Visions,
a cheaper alternative to cable which
of Premier League football in Southeast
the country’s largest cable operator,
costs USD 20 or more in most Southeast
Asia, according to BBC reports. While
suddenly yanked its HBO channels
Asian countries. That being said, cable is
no end users were taken into custody,
from the air and replaced them with
still far more reliable in terms of picture
they ended up with a useless box since
a hodgepodge of new offerings most
quality and diversity of content, two
service was disconnected.
customers felt to be inferior.
major factors to consider before making
Some customers decided to cut the cord and switched streaming services such as Netflix to watch their favourite TV shows and movies. While cutting the cord has long been popular in the US and Europe for a while now, it has only recently gained traction in Southeast Asia. Part that is due to slower internet speeds or frustrating connections in some countries such as Vietnam and Thailand. The second issue was a lack of options. Netflix didn’t have a presence in Southeast Asia until 2016 while iFlix, a regional competitor, got started in 2014 offering streaming services in Malaysia before expanding to more countries in the region during the past three years. iFlix has been a hit in particular thanks to modifications with its app that helps it cope with slower internet connections. While the costs of streaming services 30
the switch.
The dark side of IPTV There are plenty of legal services offering streaming services, also known as IPTV, but quite a few illegal services can be found out there too. You may have even seen flyers for some of these at condominium buildings in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia where expats are known to live. These IPTV companies traditionally sell black boxes that can be hooked up to your TV and connect to the internet. Some claim to have live English Premier League football while others boast the same channels you would find in the US. However, nearly all of these services are streaming this content illegally. Bangkok police conducted a series of raids to crackdown on these illegal IPTV operators in May of this year. Two UK men were eventually arrested for
Even if you ignore the legal ramifications of using these IPTV boxes, there are plenty of other issues to consider. For starters, picture quality can vary wildly and channels often come and go since the provider is basically trying to stay one step ahead of the TV provider they’re leaching off. Many of the outfits running these operations are also of the fly-by-night variety meaning your service could vanish at any moment.
To cut or not to cut The decision to cut the cord is now a viable option in Southeast Asia. As long as you have a stable internet connection and know what you want to watch, you can find the services to match these needs. On the other hand, if you are a channel surfer or value specific content, like European football, you might not want to cut the cord just yet.