Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 9
By Huseyn Valiyev - Trend:
The high cost of digital radio receivers slows down the process of introducing digital broadcasting standard in Azerbaijan, Teleradio Production Union Director General Aflatun Sharifov told Trend Sept. 9.
The production union is included into the Communications and High Technologies Ministry of Azerbaijan.
The transition to digital broadcasting standard in Azerbaijan is a matter of time, he said.
However, now its introduction is unprofitable, as the cost of digital radio receivers often reaches 150 AZN, which is quite expensive compared to the radio receivers operating in the FM-band.
"Transition to digital radio broadcasting in Azerbaijan will become topical as the digital radio receivers become available for the majority of population in terms of their costs. And such a situation is unique not only for Azerbaijani market," he said.
Previously, the Teleradio Production Union told Trend that the digital radio broadcasting can be introduced in Azerbaijan at the time of holding the first European Games in Baku in 2015.
The digital radio broadcasting was first launched in Baku during the international song contest Eurovision-2012. The advantages of the digital radio broadcasting are high-quality sound, noise immunity, more efficient use of radio spectrum, and others.
It is expected that works on introduction of digital broadcasting in Azerbaijan will start after a full transition to digital television, which presumably will take place in early 2015.
The official exchange rate for Sept. 9 is 0.7843 AZN/USD.
Edited by CN