Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 2 / Trend H. Valiyev /
The Azerbaijani Communications and IT Ministry's Teleradio Production Unit has finished operations to launch digital television in Ganja, Technical Director Mikail Abbasov told Trend today.
He said the production unit's experts are working on the system setup, which should be completed by Dec. 6. Afterward, digital content will be available to TV viewers in Ganja.
A social package of 10 channels will launch at the regional level. They will consist mostly of Azerbaijani TV channels and will be available free of charge.
"An antenna-feeder system was also built in Shirvan and Lerik, and digital television will also be available in these regions after the signal transmission," he said. "Works in these regions will be completed by Dec. 20. And next year, works are scheduled to begin in Agsu and other regions of Azerbaijan."
According to Abbasov, works are also underway to build radio relay lines from the Alat to Lerik region. The lines will be used to transmit digital signals from Baku to the southern regions of the country.
"Seven stations in total will launch," he said. "Works are underway to install four new stations, and this work should end by the first half of December."
So far, the production unit has launched one digital package consisting of 10 TV channels. The second package, consisting of 12 channels, has not been brought into operation as the Azerbaijani National Television and Radio Council has yet to issue a decision in this regard, and a contract to be signed with the Production Unit.
Today, the digital package includes Azerbaijani Television, Public Television, Lider, ATV and Idman Azerbaycan. Temporarily, the package also includes the RTR, DTV, NTV, Euronews and BBC TV channels.
The NRTC's permission must be received and a contract must be signed with Teleradio to include the Space, Xazar and TRT (Turkey) television channels in a digital package, as well as regional television channels.
Digital television is undergoing trial operation in Baku and on the Absheron Peninsula. Digital TV broadcasting is carried out in MPEG-4 standard. A decoder is needed to transfer to the digital TV standard. The signal transmitted from a TV tower in Baku and reaches Salyan, Siyazan and Gobustan.