Philippines will miss DSO date
January 15, 2014
By Chris Forrester
The Philippines’ National Telecommunications Commission says the country will likely miss the target 2015 end-date for analogue broadcasting. NTC’s head Gamaliel Cordoba, admitted that there simply isn’t enough time left to complete the exercise.
“Right now, we are already putting together the ’Implementation Rules & Regulations’ (IRR). We are doing that all with the stakeholders, including other government agencies. We need to thresh out all the issues before we issue the IRR,” Cordoba said. He said migration would depend on consumer acceptance, adding that, “We would give them enough time for the transition.”
A key hurdle would be the cost of set-top boxes, which cost from $10-11 each. Cordoba said NTC is partial to allowing broadcast companies to simulcast in analogue and digital to make the transition smooth.
The Philippines is committed to implementing Japan’s ISDB-T technical standard.