Philippines set for ISDB-T deployment
September 1, 2014
By Colin Mann
The Philippines has moved one step closer to deployment of Japanese digital terrestrial broadcasting standard Integrated Service Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (ISDB-T) following the release of a draft implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the transmission switchover by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
NTC Commissioner Gamaliel A. Cordoba has invited all affected and interested parties to a public hearing for the proposed migration plan on September 12.
The draft IRR includes channel planning, capital spending, frequency allocation and the specific steps that the industry must undertake during the switchover.
The migration plan envisages a yearlong transition period when both the analogue and the digital transmissions will be used at the same time.
The NTC will also assign a bandwidth of 6 megahertz (MHz) to each authorized digital TV operator per service area.
“A duly authorized DTTB service provider shall have the option in its application to the commission to adopt either single or multiprogram HDTV [high-definition television] format or single or multiprogram SDTV [standard-definition] format or any combination thereof for its digital service,” said the NTC.
Applicants intending to provide digital TV services must have a minimum paid-up capitalisation of P50 million (€2.9m) for the first service area and an additional subscribed capital of P20 million for each additional service area, according to the document. An applicant must also prove that it has the technical capability to install, operate and maintain the proposed DTT network.
President Benigno S. Aquino III announced October 2013 that the country would apply the Japanese standard in preference to the European DVB-T2.
Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said January 2014 that the go-ahead would pave the way for the phase out of analogue transmission in approximately two to three years to deliver better TV signals to every household across the country.
“The evolution of TV broadcasting is one of the significant aspects of connectivity for the Asean Economic Community regional integration that is envisioned to be fully attained by 2015,” he added.