Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept.2 / Trend, H, Veliyev /
PEYK plant of the Azerbaijani Defense Industry Ministry will launch production of digital DVB-T tuners (for reception of digital TV signals), PEYK Director Siyavush Aliyev told Trend.
He said the prototype presented to the National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council was tested successfully. Today the prototype is being discussion at the Azerbaijani Communications and IT Ministry.
"A need for these devices in the domestic market may reach 1.5 million units. Though many up-to-date TVs support digital television, consumers might not buy such TV sets by transitioning to digital broadcasting. Our available products will be quite accessible to ordinary consumers," Aliyev said.
Tuners may be available for retail sale by late 2011. The devices will be available on the market under the brand name "DVB-TsPEYK" the cost of which will not exceed 40 manat, according to Aliyev. For example, similar devices cost about $70 on the Russian market.
PEYK plans to export these products to other markets in the future. Domestic production will be attractive as it will operate stably in both the MPEG -2 and the MPEG-4 standards.
PEYK's production capacity will depend directly on consumer demand. Aliyev said consumers should be ready for future changes so that innovation does not catch them by surprise, but they should have time to prepare before analog broadcasting will stop fully.
However, analog signals will not be fully disconnected as long as the majority of the population acquire tuners, he said.
The development of digital broadcasting in Azerbaijan is one of the priority tasks of the Azerbaijani Communications and IT Ministry, which intends to distribute digital broadcasting throughout the country in the near future.
According to the ministry's forecasts, by early 2012, 85 percent of Azerbaijani territories will be covered by digital broadcasting standards, while full transition to digital broadcasting, according to the ministry's work plan, is expected in 2013.