NBTC urged to work with govt

The NBTC’s broadcasting committee has said the watchdog needs to decide between three digital television broadcast standards.

The first is Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial, or DVB-T, a Europe-based consortium standard for the transmission of digital terrestrial television.

The second is the Japanese standard, called Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB), and the third is DTMB (Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcast), which is the TV standard for mobile and fixed terminals used in China.

Sura Gaintanasilp, executive vice president at MCOT, the operator of Modernine TV, yesterday said that though a decision on the standard was part of the NBTC’s plan to switch the broadcasting industry from analogue to digital, he wanted a clearer signal from the government on the issue because it impinged on many sectors: from individual customers, advertisers, broadcasters and content providers through to state security and the Kingdom’s relationship with neighbouring countries.

He said that if the new broadcast standard were not relevant to neighbouring states, some companies that export their products to those countries could miss out on the opportunity to advertise into those areas.

Speaking as a broadcaster who is keen on investment in digital terrestrial broadcasting, Sura added that the decision of the watchdog and related government bodies should focus on the sustainability of network provision and infrastructure development; new services (such as mobile TV and pay and interactive TV) on top of free-to-air services; and an electronic warning system in times of catastrophe.

Pairoj Pinkeaw, executive adviser at BEC World, the operator of ThaiTV 3, suggested that DVB-T and DVB-T2 should be appropriate for the country because such technology had been developed from the current broadcasting standard used by the free-TVoperators, namely, ThaiTV3, TV5, Channel 7, Modernine TV, NBT and Thai Public Broadcasting Service (ThaiPBS).

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He said that in 2007, Southeast Asian ministers responsible for information had endorsed DVB-T as the uniform standard for the region, so Thailand should follow this agreement.

DVB-T technology would allow television manufacturers to produce an integrated set-top box that could receive a digital signal from other platforms like satellite broadcasting via the DVB-S standard, and cable TVs via DVB-C, he added.

Meanwhile, leading television-set makers told The Nation that they were ready for the changeover to digital terrestrial television, but said they wanted to see a clear direction for the transition from analogue to digital services.

"What needs to be done is for the government to make its digital-switch-over policy clear, and lead us as part of the downstream unit of the supply chain in the broadcasting industry," said Alongkorn Chujit, deputy managing director of LG Electronics (Thailand).

Ratchata Suttapattanon, senior manager for AV (audio and visual) business at Thai Samsung Electronics, said the transition would benefit both consumers and manufacturers.

Samsung has experienced such change in countries such as Australia and Singapore, he said, adding that it already produces set-top boxes for a leading subscription-based TV operator in the Kingdom.

"Once the specification for a set-top box that suits the digital television system is finalised by the government, we believe that production at our Sri Racha plant will begin quickly to meet local demand," he said.

Hideki Kondo, manager for AV products marketing at Sony Thai, said that if the system the government opted to launch were DVB-T2, the company would be able to support the digital system in the next few years, but right now its Bravia television sets were supported by the first version of the DVB-T system in the Pacific region.

He said Sony was working closely with TV broadcasters in building real demand and a presence in the business. However, the company has no plan to sell set-top-boxes individually at the moment.

"We will try our best to develop and launch a set-top-box integrated TV in time for the commencement of digital broadcasting in Thailand," Kondo said.