Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Aug. 31 / Trend D.Azizov /
An Uzbek-Singaporean joint venture commissioned a new plant this week to manufacture digital television tuners in the Navoi Free Industrial and Economic Zone (FIEZ).
Servetechno (Singapore), Uzbektelecom and Telmax Elektroniks (Uzbekistan) registered the joint venture, Telecom Innovations, as a limited liability company in February 2010.
The plant will have a design capacity of 100,000 digital set-top boxes each costing $4.25. The project was financed at the expense of the Uzbek founders.
As previously reported, Telemax Electronics (Uzbektelecom - 96-percent stake) began the pilot production of STBs to receive digital terrestrial television signals in DVB-T format in Tashkent in 2009. The capacity of the enterprise is over 50,000 tuners per year.
Uzbekistan is implementing a program to switch to digital broadcasting from 2008-2015.
The Uzbek State Center of Radio Communication, Radio Broadcasting and Television is continuing to introduce terrestrial digital TV broadcasting in Uzbekistan in DVB-T. The organization plans to install three additional digital TV transmitters in Tashkent in 2010. Plans also include expanding digital broadcasting by introducing and launching pilot digital broadcasting transmitters in the Samarkand, Andijan and Kashkadarya regions and Karakalpakstan.
Uzbekistan also started introducing terrestrial digital TV broadcasting in 2008 by launching pilot areas in Tashkent and Bukhara. Japan's NEC and Germany's Rohde and Schwarz supplied equipment for the zones.
Uzbektelecom is Uzbekistan's national telecommunications operator. The company is the dominant provider of local and international fixed-line telephony. Its shares in the telecommunications markets are 98 and 96 percent, respectively.