02. 07. 2014

DIGITALIZATION BY THE END OF YEAR

2.7.2014 (Beta, B92) - Director of the Republic Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (RATEL) stated today that the regulatory body expects digitalization in Serbia to be completed by the end 2014.

RATEL director added that the final deadline is middle of 2015.

Addressing the Serbian parliament's transport and telecommunications committee, he said that this is important so that the state could offer to mobile operators frequencies that will be freed by the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting of radio-television signal. The frequencies will be offered to mobile operators for the use of broadband access or the introduction of LTE technology.

According to Janković, by selling these frequencies for the introduction of the fourth generation of mobile telephony "the state would certainly ensure at least 100 million EUR in public revenues".

Minister of Trade and Telecommunications, Rasim Ljajić, said on June 9 that Serbia is considerably late in the transition to broadcasting digital radio and television signal and that so far 15 to 20 percent of this work has been completed.

He announced then that a contract should be signed in September with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on the support to the completion of digitalization of television signal, which would speed up the process and enable its completion by June 2015.

According to Ljajić, although an earlier estimate was that Serbia needs 70 million EUR for digitalization, it will be done three times cheaper.

First deadline for the completion of digitalization in Serbia was April 4, 2012, but it was rescheduled for June 17, 2015, due to delay. The process should be completed in all European countries by June 17, 2015.