NBTC set to start analog switch-off

“All 466,000 households in Ubon Ratchathani, 40,000 households in Samui and some 80,000 in Chaiya Prakan district of Chiang Mai will be the first in the Kingdom to experience the analog switch-off by the end of this year,” NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said yesterday.
He made the remarks after meeting yesterday with four national providers of terrestrial-based digital-TV transmission. He said analog broadcasting would be switched off gradually in those areas where digital TV coverage was fully up and ready.
Mongkon Leelatum, deputy director-general of the Thai Public Broadcasting Service, one of the digital transmission-network providers, said his company had conducted an on-ground survey in the areas to be affected first and found that the digital signal was stable.
“Therefore, we decided to end the broadcast of Thai PBS programmes in those areas before the end of this year. The remaining analog broadcasts from Thai PBS will be shut down by 2018,” he said.
Among the other transmission-network providers, the Army will begin winding down its analog broadcasting of TV5 in 2017 and the process is expected to be complete by 2018.
The Public Relations Department will stop airing its NBT channel (formerly known as Channel 11) in 2017, while MCOT plans to end its analog broadcasting of Modernine TV channel by 2018.
Though Thai PBS, TV5 and NBT channel plan to stop their analog services completely by 2018, two market leaders – Channel 7 and Channel 3 – will continue their analog transmissions until their broadcasting concession contracts end.
Colonel Bundit Sangon, director of the digital-TV-transmission service at Royal Thai Army Radio and Television, said the Army had granted a broadcasting concession contract to Bangkok Broadcasting and Television (BBTV) to operate analog TV station Channel 7 since 1967.
“We will definitely discuss with BBTV shortening the analog-switch-off process for Channel 7 to meet the national milestone by 2018,” Bundit said.
The current concession agreement with BBTV will end in November 2023.
But the Army has promised to negotiate with Channel 7’s operator to end their concession contract by 2018 in exchange for the right to manage a second network for commercial digital TV broadcasters.
MCOT’s broadcasting concession with Bangkok Entertainment Co is different from the Army’s case. Without any negotiation, the concession agreement between MCOT and Channel 3’s operator will expire in March 2019.
By the time all these analog broadcasts have shut down, everyone should be able to access the same TV programmes via digital receivers. Satellite and cable TV viewers can watch the free TV channels as long as the NBTC’s “must carry” rule is in place.
Asked about the future of the must-carry rule, NBTC acting deputy secretary-general Sombat Leelapata said the commission would consider revoking this rule if there were a common consensus from the industry.