Inquirer: NTC orders review of digital TV standard

MANILA, Philippines—The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has ordered a review of the standards to be used for the country’s shift to digital television broadcasting technology.

NTC Deputy Commissioner Carlo Jose Martinez said the regulator was considering the adoption of a new technology, the second-generation Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB2) from Europe, to replace the Japanese Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB) standard.

DVB2 has been touted by industry experts as superior to the ISDB platform from Japan, which was chosen over the first generation DVB standard.

“In the advent of the new technology, we want to have a review to see if the DVB2 is superior to the ISDB,” he said in an earlier interview.

All TV networks earlier expressed support for the ISDB standard. But GMA Network Inc., one of the country’s leading television stations, recently said a review might be warranted given the development of the more advanced DVB2.

Associated Broadcasting Corp. (ABC), operator of TV5, has also said the government should take a second look at other technologies other than the ISDB.

The ISDB standard was chosen over the DVB platform last year, mainly due to the lower prices of set-top boxes offered by Japanese companies. These devices are needed to convert digital signals into viewable images.

The benefits of digital TV include the more efficient use of broadcast frequencies to allow more data to be transmitted. Once digital TV is adopted in the Philippines, high-definition programming will be broadcast on free-to-air networks instead of through cables for a fee.

The committee formed by the NTC is expected to complete its review and come up with its findings in two months. The review will run simultaneously with the work of the technical working group (TWG), which is formulating the specific rules for the rollout of digital TV.

The TWG is made up of representatives from the private sector and the NTC.

Association of Broadcast Electronics Practitioners vice president Armand Ursal said reports from overseas showed that Europe’s DVB2 standard could send more data using much less power than required when using the Japanese standard.

“What we hear is that it’s superior and more beneficial to the public,” Ursal said, but admitted that more would have to be conducted. - Paolo Montecillo, dated 27 March 2011, 10:03 PM.

Source: Inquirer

ABS-CBN News: Japan ready to help ‘digitize’ Philippine TV networks

MANILA, Philippines - Japan is ready to give the state-run National Broadcasting Network (Channel 4) a $4-million (P174.8-million) grant to help it shift to digital television.

Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), announcing this, said Japan said was ready to extend the similar soft loans to other broadcasting firms for the same purpose.

The NTC said it would take some time yet before the full digitation of television—which would make obsolete the currently used analog television sets—is realized.

Cordoba said the Japan grant would be spent to buy transmitters, antennas and the like. “Japan just wants to help,” he said.

He said Japan was awaiting the signing of the memorandum of cooperation that would formalize the Philippines’ intent” to adapt Japan’s Integrated Services Digital Broadcast (ISDB) technology as the standard for digital TV.

The implementing rules of the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) broadcast service in the country will be released in June.

The draft cooperation agreement has been circulated to other government agencies, including the National Economic and Development Authority, for their inputs, Cordoba said.

Under the draft rules, Japan expressed willingness to financially assist Philippine broadcasting firms through attractive financial packages to help them cope with their investment in digital TV. No amount was set, however. “It depends on how big the network is but the terms are very relaxed. They will provide financial assistance even to government-owned TV stations,” said Cordoba.

The NTC chief also said that Japan has lowered the price of set-top boxes to $10.98 each; the actual cost, when purchased by a consumer, could be higher. “ There will be freight costs to be shouldered by the importer,” said the NTC chief.

When DTT technology will be enforced in the country, all analog TV handsets would be rendered obsolete unless connected to a set-top box.

Depending on the demand, Japan is willing to manufacture set-top boxes here so these could be sold at cheaper prices. At the same time, this could provide job opportunities to Filipinos.

“But for now, Sharp Philippines and Eagle World of China have expressed interest tin manufacturing the boxes in the Philippines so that Filipinos can buy them and even the digital TV units at cheaper price,” Cordoba said.

The NTC plans to start implementing digital-television service in select cities by 2012. It wants the shift to be implemented in phases, the same way Japan did, NTC Deputy Commissioner Carlo Jose Martinez said.

“We plan to follow Japan’s model. They started with Tokyo then Osaka, followed by other major cities. The TWG [technical working group] has yet to identify which cities would start the digital TV shift but maybe we could start with Manila, Cebu, Davao,” he said.

Martinez could not provide the timetable for the analog TV broadcast termination but said it won’t be soon—or not in 2015 which was the year previously identified by the NTC administration.

“Japan was able to shut off its analog [broadcasts] after nine to 10 years upon the introduction of digital TV. So it would probably be the same here. The consumers will be our basis as to when the shutdown will take effect,” he said.

Japan’s ISDB-T platform is expected to provide more business opportunities because the bandwidth that will be assigned for digital TV can also be used to service mobile phones. The technology is also capable of sending emergency warning broadcasts to households. - Lenie Lectura, Business Mirror, dated 22 March 2011, 11:20 AM.

Source: ABS-CBN News

I.T. Matters: Shift to Japanese digital TV standard by April delayed?

We're just really eager to start experiencing the world of digital TV, but still, NTC delays the release of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for digital TV broadcast, which is dated to be finished this April. This delay is caused by the favored review of GMA Network with the new DTV standard of Europe, the DVB-T2, which they claim is more superior than the chosen Japanese ISDB-T standard.

Read the article after the jump.

THE PLANNED shift to Japanese digital television standard for broadcasting may not push through by April with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) now mulling whether to take a second look at the upgraded European standard.

This comes after broadcaster GMA Network, Inc. and the House Committee on Information and Communication Technology “encouraged” the state agency to again review which digital TV standard to adopt, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel A. Cordoba said in a text message yesterday.

“We’re already studying the two proposals. We’ll make an announcement within the next two weeks [if we will be reviewing or not],” Mr. Cordoba said.

“In case a review is made, it will be a quick one — maybe a maximum of two months in process,” Mr. Cordoba added.

Plans to issue implementing rules for the shift to the Japanese standard by April may thus be scuttled as the NTC could instead publish a draft that is “technology-neutral” in the meantime.

This may overturn the decision made in June last year when NTC, following unanimous industry support, selected the Japanese Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (ISDB-T) standard as the country’s digital television platform over the European Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) technology.

The decision last year to adopt the ISDB-T standard was reached in a meeting of stakeholders from the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, GMA Network, Inc., ABS-CBN Corp., RPN Channel 9, and Vanguard Radio Network Co., Inc., among others.

Representatives from the Japanese embassy and NTC officials went on to sign a memorandum of cooperation. Japanese makers of the set-top boxes required for non-digital TV sets were said to have committed to build a manufacturing plant in the Philippines to help cut prices.

But last month, GMA Network president Gilberto R. Duavit, Jr. told reporters that the government should reconsider its decision to pick the Japanese standard, saying the European DVB2 technology has better quality.

The Philippines is aiming to complete the shift to digital TV by 2015. After NTC issues the IRR for the digital TV standard, broadcasting firms can start rolling out the digital signals alongside analog signals.

Aside from Japan, the ISDB-T has been widely adopted in South America. - Kathleen A. Martin, Business World, dated 20 March 2011, 10:16 PM.

Source: I.T. Matters