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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
THE Philippines is likely to adopt a European technology for the
migration to digital terrestrial television by 2015, the National
Telecommunications Commission said.
The technical working group, which was created
by the regulator, has submitted last week a recommendation to adopt
a European standard or the Digital Video Broadcast Handheld (DVB-H)
for the country’s migration to digital TV.
Digital TV is a telecommunication system for
broadcasting and receiving digital sound and video signals that
needs to be viewed through a specially designed and more advanced TV
set than the traditional analog box.
The group also recommended that NTC stop issuing
application for analog TV service by 2010 and that all broadcasting
networks migrate into digital TV by 2015.
The TWG members include the National Economic
and Development Authority, NTC, Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters ng
Pilipinas, Philippine Information Agency and all broadcasting firms.
“After the receipt of the report and
recommendation of the TWG on digital TV, the Commission will now
form a group that will formulate the rules and regulations,” Ruel
Canobas, the NTC chief, told The Manila Times in an interview.
Canobas said he would issue an office order to
create a new TWG to draft a memorandum circular.
“The new TWG will be given 15 days to submit
rules and regulations to the Commission En Banc,” Canobas said,
adding that the group has recommended a single platform for digital
TV.
He said the NTC would set a public hearing for
these recommendations.
Meanwhile, the NTC had invited digital TV
providers in Europe and Japan to conduct an actual demonstration
test of their standards in the country.
The US, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, and South Korea
have adopted the advanced television systems committee (ATSC) as the
platform for the delivery of digital TV service. Japan, however, has
adopted the ISDB (integrated services digital broadcast), which is
also currently deployed in Europe and a number of other Asian
countries, to provide multiple-program digital TV broadcast service
to users.
In the Philippines, Smart Communications Inc.
uses DVB-H technology for its digital mobile TV rollout.
On the part of the consumer, the migration is
critical because those who have the analog TV will have to buy the
set-top box to enable use of their analog TV.
The set-top box (STB) is a device that connects
to analog television to transmit the channel from digital TV. The
STB also has the ability to manage many channels in one bandwidth
and carry electronic program guides and interactive programs.
The NTC believes that with the anticipated
features of the digital TV platform, analog TV technology will soon
be rendered obsolete. It projects that manufacturers will eventually
stop producing analog TV receivers.
The NTC will also ask manufacturers to produce
digital-ready TV.
ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. GMA Network Inc.,
ABC-5 Broadcasting Corp., and GV Broadcasting System Inc. separately
filed applications to offer the technology.
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