Merwinian Broadcast Services

Merwinian Broadcast Services (MBS) was a Merwinian telecommunications operator founded in 1994 and dissolved in 2009 by Comport. At first it was a subscription television operator, however it extended its scope of offers to include cable internet and VoIP telephone.

History[edit | edit source]

MBS was founded by Pakifan businessman Park Chukun in 1994, who owned the company until the sale to Comport. The company operated to Funafati in the northern part of the Main Island, relaying PMBC Television, Flarland Television International and selected satellite services provided by the "Gang of Five", including the Northulia Television International service provided by them to compete against Star TV. Star TV channels were added after a few months of operation.

It offered cable internet, at a time where internet services were deregulated.

MBS's TV monopoly broke in March 2001 when Comport launched its subscription television service, at the time featuring less channels than MBS. Many people moved to Comport's service citing accessibility issues.

In 2007, it launched a digital cable service, using Handan decoders. The analog service was able to have at least 36 channels and digital, up to 60. New channels, mostly free-to-air, were added.

Merger with Comport[edit | edit source]

In August 2007, Comport decided to merge its services with MBS. The reasons for the merger are largely unknown, but it is suggested that the two companies have been doing unfair business. Other reports say that the technology used by MBS was unable to keep up with the times or was very poor.

In April 2009, MBS removed Imparja from its channel offer due to supposed rights issues. Imparja was one of the most-viewed channels on the operator.

In November 2009, all former MBS customers, estimated to be at 20.000, were now part of Comport. Now Comport had total control of the pay-TV industry in Port Merwin.