PoliticsTerrestrial TV to be digital by 2013
Terrestrial television broadcasting in Taiwan will be digitalized by 2013, with subsidies to low-income households for the purchase of set-top boxes, the National Communications Commission announced May 10. The announcement came during the 41st semiannual meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Telecommunications and Information Working Group (TEL), which opened in Taipei May 6. Last year the United States completed the digitalization of its terrestrial TV broadcasting by financing household set-top boxes. Taking a cue from the U.S. example, the NCC has included NT$260 million (US$8.26 million) in its annual budget to subsidize set-top boxes for 103,000 households. Some 300 representatives from 18 economic entities in the 21-member APEC participated in the six-day meeting. Issues on the agenda included future development and challenges for the information and communications technology sector, analog-to-digital conversion of terrestrial TV broadcasting, Internet safety for minors, spectrum management and international roaming. TEL participants placed great emphasis on the discussion of conversion to digital TV broadcasting, according to the NCC, Taiwan’s media and telecom regulator and one of the event’s main organizers. “The development of ICT technologies is a major factor in revving up the economy and helping industries grow,” said NCC Minister Bonnie Peng, adding that Taiwan not only participated in professional discussions but also shared its fruitful results in ICT advancement with TEL representatives. “Taiwan ranked 11th out of 134 economies from 2009 to 2010 on the networked readiness index in the World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report,” said Minister without Portfolio Chang Chin-fu. Taiwan’s mobile telecommunications penetration rate has reached 116 percent and more than 18 million users on the island are paying to access the Internet through wireless connections, Chang added. (KP-THN) |
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