Serbia completes DSO ahead of schedule
June 8, 2015
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Serbia has successfully completed its digital switchover, with 97.8 per cent of the population covered by the DTT signal.
The process was completed ten days before the original target date of June 17th, with the switch-off the last analogue transmitters, located on Kopaonik, Jastrebac, Besna Kobila, Cer and Maljen.
According to the Minister of Trade and Telecommunications, Rasim Ljajić, viewers who receive TV via analogue transmitters can now receive, on average, 15 TV channels (national, regional and local).
Although the initial estimate was that the DSO would cost €100 million, it ended up costing around €30 million, plus a €10 million donation from the EU.
The Serbian state is expected to earn around €100 million, from the sale of the digital dividend, i.e. the frequencies vacated by the analogue TV channels. They will be used to expand 4G mobile Internet coverage.
Ljajić pointed out that Serbia is one of six European countries that are broadcasting in the DVB-T2 standard.