First vouchers for digital TV receivers on October 15
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THE NATIONAL Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission will start giving away vouchers worth Bt690 towards the purchase of either digital set-top boxes or TVs with built-in digital tuners on October 15, initially to households in 23 provinces, said T
People can start using the vouchers on October 25, he added.
The first 23 provinces will include Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Mai and Songkhla.
The watchdog aims to give away the vouchers in a total of 45 provinces, which will cover 11.45 million households, before the end of this year, with the remaining provinces getting them by next year.
The National Council for Peace and Order recently approved a budget of Bt16,165,265 for the two-year project to distribute the vouchers to 22.9 million households nationwide. Of that total, Bt15.801 billion covers the value of the vouchers. The other costs include Bt65.265 million for postal services to deliver the vouchers, Bt34 million for stickers on the vouchers guaranteeing their authenticity, and Bt34 million for stickers on the set-top boxes guaranteeing they are eligible under the voucher programme.
Three registered
Currently only three manufacturers of set-top boxes have registered to join the voucher project out of 58 companies on the NBTC list. The commission will announce the names of official box suppliers for the first phase on September 15 and will make more announcements every 15 days thereafter. Each official supplier must have registered capital of at least Bt5 million and at least four customer-service centres in each province and offer two-year guarantees on the boxes.
The NBTC expects that only 80 per cent of the vouchers will be picked up since some households already watch digital TV via satellite and cable. The vouchers will be valid for six months.
