Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 22 / Trend, H. Valiyev /
Digital TV signal covers 93 percent of the population, the Azerbaijani Communications and IT Ministry told Trend on Monday.
According to the ministry, as of the second half of 2012, nine additional transmitters had been installed in Azerbaijan to expand digital TV coverage. The total number of digital television transmitters in the country reached 43.
"At present, operations to improve digital TV signal coverage are underway in remote areas of the country," the ministry said. "Around 10 additional DVB-T transmitters were purchased. Work has been already started to install the equipment. It is expected to fully pass to digital format after the population of the country is fully covered by digital television."
Poor people will be provided with decoders on a preferential basis as a part of the transition process. The matter rests in over 120,000 families who receive targeted assistance. Around 5 million Manat will be required for this purpose. This issue is on the agenda of the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers.
The work on frequency coordination envisaged for broadcasting TV and radio programs is underway within the project. At present, coordination issues have been fully resolved with Russia and partially with Georgia. It is expected to complete work on coordination with Georgia by late 2013. As for with Armenia and Iran, coordination issues are solved through the International Telecommunication Union.
The use of new DVB-T2 standard will be a promising innovation for the project.
The second generation of digital terrestrial broadcasting system DVB-T2 can be used for fixed, mobile and other reception, and its payload is by 30-50 per cent more compared to DVB-T previous version in the same conditions.