21. 03. 2012

50 EUROS FOR DIGITAL TRANSITION

Belgrade, March 21, 2012 (Blic) - Testing of digital TV signal starts today from Avala Tower and will cover 40 percent of Serbia, it was announced today by the public company "Broadcasting Equipment and Communications".

According to the survey conducted by the daily "Blic" website, more than a half of Serbian population is not aware of the launching of digital television signal. The process of digitalization will not include those having cable TV, while the others will need a special receiver, converter of analog to digital signal that will cost 30-50 Euros. They will not, however, need to buy a new TV set.

As stated by the State Secretary for Digital Agenda Jasna Matic, only the experimental phase has started today, while the entire process of digital transition would last for months, during which time, more detailed information will be gathered on real situation in the field.

The network has been designed so that viewers around the country can receive the signal via roof antennae, while only those in close range to the transmitter will be able to acquire signal over their individual antennae, which would be the regular way of signal receiving once the network for digital broadcasting is completely installed.

To receive digital signal, the citizens will need to have TV set with DVB-T2 tuner or special external piece of equipment for decoding digital signal (set-top box) or a special hardware-software add-on that enables the receiving of digital signal on PC.

State Secretary also pointed out that under the Digital Strategy, the state had foreseen the assistance with acquisition of set-top boxes for the most disadvantageous households.

10 programs are planned to be broadcast in standard (SD) definition and one TV program in high (HD) definition. In line with the decision of the RBA, these programs are RTS 1, RTS 2, and RTS digital, Pink, B92, Prva, Avala, Hepi, RTV 1 and Studio B.