Colombia’s Autoridad Nacional de Televisión (ANTV) and the European Union have kicked off an €8 million agreement to boost DTT deployment across the country.
The project is divided into three main actions: increasing DTT access, improving regulation and training, and deploying monitoring stations.According to the ANTV, the main goal is to deliver over 45,000 DTT-ready set-top boxes to low-income families. So far, inhabitants of Marinilla, in the Antioquia department, have god the STB, and the cities of Ibagué, Buenaventura, Valledupar, Riohacha, Quibdó, Lorica, Ciénaga, Villa del Rosario, El Tambo, La Tebaida, Turbaco, and Puerto López will follow.
As part of the EU-funded project, the country’s telecom and TV institutions, as well as the technical staff of the public broadcaster and the regional channels will be trained to be ready for the analogue switch-off, scheduled for December 2019.
At last, the project includes a €150,000 investment to build a monitoring centre and 22 local stations. The DVB-T/T2 equipment for such deployment is being provided by Spain’s Televés.
“13 towns getting over 45,000 set-top boxes, training and real-time monitoring have made of this agreement a vital boost for DTT deployment and coverage, which currently stays at 70.3%,” said David Luna, Colombia’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies.
