Singapore Telecommunications has launched its much-anticipated pay TV service today, promising viewers this: It's like having the convenience of a digital video store in your home.

The 33-channel mio TV, which is available from today, gives subscribers the full flexibility to watch what they want, when they want, without being tied to programme and rigid basic tier packages. It brings an end to StarHub's 12-year monopoly in this market.

Under its a la carte plans, viewers can choose from up to 25 selected movies for unlimited viewing for only $12 a month - or low as 50 cents for each movie.

Said Mr Allen Lew, SingTel's CEO for Singapore, at a media conference to launch mio TV yesterday: "The next generation of television watching has arrived. Customers have been calling for choice and flexibility in the pay TV market and now they have it."

Claiming to have the largest range of video on demand titles on any Singapore television platform, featuring blockbuster movies from major Hollywood movie studios including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox and Disney, mio TV allows customers to search for content by genre, by title or by actor's name. Viewers simply click on the title and the movie starts playing immediately.

The catch is that you must have a set-top box which is given free and a "mio" box, which is a router-cum-modem" linked to a TV set, and sign up for at least $15 worth of programmes.

About 85 per cent of homes here will be able to subscribe to mio TV, with the rest being left out for the moment until their phone systems have been upgraded to broadband service. Subscribers do not have to be SingTel broadband customers.

Said Mr Lew: "Singaporeans lead extremely hectic lifestyles. Our customers tell us that they are often disappointed with linear movie channels because their lifestyles sometimes do not allow them to get home in time for their favourite movies. By allowing customers to be able to click and play their movies anytime, mio TV ensures that will never have to happen again".

Second Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, who was present at the launched, added that the IPTV service would transform the viewing ritual from "a passive receptive mode" to one that is "on-demand and interactive."

With mio TV, the rivalry between SingTel and Starub will intensify. The two telcos already compete for customers in the mobile-phone, fixed-line and broadband market.

SingTel is looking to bank on programmes that StarHub does not have.

For instance, SingTel has successfully inked an unprecedented output deal with Sony Pictures Television International that brings viewers Sony's upcoming slate of feature films at the same time as the DVD release and before they are seen anywhere else on TV. The deal also includes key titles from Sony's extensive catalogue of feature films.

High Definition (HD) fans can look forward to mio TV's extensive range of HD content, ranging from blockbuster movies to high quality channels from Mega Media, one of Asia's largest HD companies. Partnering with VOOM HD Networks, the channels will include an exciting line-up of HD programming selected from VOOM's 15 HD channels and the first made-in-Singapore HD channel - Sling HD. The HD content includes documentaries, travel, music, arts, fashion and lifestyle programmes, among others. VOOM is the largest producer of HD content in the world.

mio TV will also offer two brand new BBC channels. Making its global debut, BBC Knowledge will feature amazing documentaries and reality programmes that have never before been seen in Asia. BBC Lifestyle will also bring a wide range of exciting content ranging from food and health to fashion and design. To complete the suite of high quality entertainment to the family, BBC is also launching CBeebies - UK's number one kids channel - on mio TV.

Hong Kong movie buffs will love the Mei Ah TV channel, Singapore's first Cantonese movie channel that features Cantonese-only content between noon and midnight. Selected movies will premier simultaneously on mio TV and Hong Kong cinema screens - another 'world first' for mio TV subscribers!

mio TV's a la carte price plans allow customers to pay only for what they want to watch. This option allows viewers to choose from up to 25 selected movies for unlimited viewing for only $12 per month. This means movies, anytime, for as low as 50 cents each. There will be a variety of on demand channels to suit different tastes.

All mio TV customers will also receive one free on demand "movie-of-the month" - every single month. Starting Sept 1, anyone with a mio TV Set-Top Box will be able to access this movie whenever they want, as many times as they want.

Subscribers who opt for the Set-Top Box with recording function can pause, rewind and record live TV programmes so that they no longer have to miss anything. The mio TV website allows subscribers to programme their recordings even when they are not at home, and an upcoming service that 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," Mr Lew said. The mio TV Set-Top Box allows one channel to be recorded while watching another and has a capacity of 80 hours of recording.

The interactive and flexible mio TV platform will open up even more opportunities for innovative services in the future. Subscribers can look forward to, including the possibility of communicating using video conferencing and instant messaging, displaying photos and playing music from their PCs, all on the TV set.

"SingTel will continue to invest in the development of innovative content and services for mio TV subscribers in Singapore," said the telco.

"Such content will engage consumers on multiple levels, for example, watching it on TV, blogging on PC, and interactive voting on mobile. This will definitely appeal to the engaged youths of today, who are already spreading their free time over all these multiple entertainment devices."

Dr Christopher Chia, Chief Executive Officer, the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA said: "We believe the launch of mioTV will open up more channels for interactive content creation and media services, benefiting both consumers and industry with greater choice and content flexibility."