the major markets such as Toronto,
Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa.
About 33% of the population can
receive at least one Canadian DTT
station. Analogue switch-off was
completed for major markets by
August 2012, however, low power
stations outside the major markets
were allowed to continue analogue
operations.
SOUTHAMERICA
Early DTT services were launched
in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2007, Buenos
Aires, Argentina in 2008 and Lima,
Peru in 2010. The majority of Latin
American countries (Brazil, Peru,
Argentina, Chile, Venezuela,
Ecuador, Costa Rica, Paraguay,
Bolivia, Nicaragua, Uruguay,
Guatemala and Honduras) adopted
ISDB-Tb standards. The ISDB-Tb
(Integrated Services Digital
Broadcast – Terrestrial Brazilian
version) is based on the Japanese
standard ISDB-T with additional
features of a new interactivity TV
middleware technology (Ginga).
In terms of broadcast coverage,
digital TV in Brazil would be
expanding rapidly. According to
ANATEL (National Telecom-
munications Agency), Digital TV
coverage reached more than 480
municipalities and 46.8% of the
population (89.2m people) in 2012,
with 102 stations transmitting with
digital broadcast technology.
Initially, there was the expectation
from ANATEL that the coverage of
Digital TV was equal or higher than
the signal coverage of analogue TV
even before 2016. According to the
Ministry of Communications,
studies showed the possibility of
starting the analogue signal switch-
off gradually. The new plan is
starting the switch-off in large cities
from 2015, taking as its starting
point the first locations that receive
the digital signal, and extending the
deadline for the entire Brazilian
territory to 2018.
CENTRALAMERICA&CARIBBEAN
Many countries in Central America
are conducting trial transmissions
before deciding which standards to
adopt so all four TV standards may
feature in the region. Costa Rica
and Nicaragua adopted Brazilian
ISDB-Tb standards in 2010.
Dominican Republic and El
Salvador chose North American
ATSC standards in 2009 and 2010
respectively. Panama has chosen
European DVB-T standards and Cuba
is carrying out test transmissions
using the Chinese DTMB standards.
Five countries in the Caribbean
have 50% or higher percentage of
analogue terrestrial TV penetration.
Three countries have adopted TV
standards – one opting for DVB-T
and two for ATSC. Most admin-
istrations have not yet decided or
are in the testing phase. Four admin-
istrations have no plans to migrate
due to high penetration of cable TV.
French Caribbean Islands and French
Guyana have already completed
transition to digital and analogue
switch-off. VHF and UHF are used
by a significant number of admin-
istrations. The switchover phase
will require compatibility measures
for smooth transition until ASO is
completed. One administration has
identified a target date for ASO.
There is a need to coordinate ASO
dates to avoid interference constraints
during interim periods. Almost all
countries are considering the
possibility of using the 700 MHz
band (698-806 MHz) and/or 800 MHz
band (790-862 MHz), pursuant to
the WRC-07 and WRC-12 decisions
to allocate these bands worldwide
and identify them for international
mobile telecommunications (IMT).
ASIA-PACIFIC
Australia was the first to launch
digital TV in the region in 2001
using DVB-T standards (same as
Europe, Middle East and Africa)
and was quickly followed by India,
Singapore, Japan using its own
standards ISDB-T, South Korea,
Vietnam, New Zealand and Hong
Kong and China using Chinese
standards DTMB. The 9th
Conference of ASEAN Ministers
(Indonesia, 2007) endorsed DVB-T
as standards for member nations
(Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam). The
Philippines after much deliberation
chose to adopt the Japanese
standards ISDB-T. Analogue
switch-off is now completed in
Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong,
Australia, New Zealand, Singapore,
Mongolia and Taiwan. The other
countries are working towards
completing their analogue switch-
off during 2015 and 2020.
With assistance of the ITU,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, Indonesia,
Laos, Maldives, Micronesia,
Myanmar, Papua New Guinea,
Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste,
Vietnam and Vanuatu have
completed or are in the process of
completing their roadmaps for
transition.
DEADLINE FORASO
While there is no legal deadline for
switching off analogue TV stations,
countries in Europe, Middle East
and Africa agreed as part of the
Geneva 2006 Agreement that at the
end of the transition period, 17 June
2015 or 17 June 2020 for analogue
TV services in the VHF band (174-
230 MHz) for 33 developing
countries in the planning area,
analogue TV frequency
assignments shall no longer have
their international recognition and
protection status. That means they
may continue to operate as long as
they do not cause unacceptable
interference to and do not claim
protection from the new digital TV
stations of their neighbours.
The end of the transition period
does not necessarily signify that
analogue switch-off will take place
throughout a given country. It
does, however, mean that analogue
services will no longer be protected
24
|
ISSUE 2 2014
|
THE CHANNEL
THE CHANNEL
|
DIGITAL MIGRATION
It is vital to
secure
adequate
funding for
public
communi-
cation to
educate
viewers
“
”
