NTC sets meet on planned shift to Japanese TV standard

MANILA, Philippines - The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is set to meet with broadcasting firms led by ABS-CBN Corp. and GMA Network Inc. on Oct. 29 to finalize the country’s shift to digital technology using the Japanese standard.

NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba issued the proposed memorandum circular on the “Standard for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Broadcast Service” after President Aquino announced after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum in Brunei that the Philippines is poised to pick the Japanese digital TV standard.

 â€œThe hearing aims to reconfirm with industry stakeholders the technical working group’s recommendation to adopt the Japanese digital terrestrial TV standard as the Philippines’ digital TV standard,” Cordoba said in a statement.

Digital television is an innovative transmitting technology transforming television-viewing experience through better picture and sound quality.

Malacañang has commissioned the Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) last year to draft the migration plan to aid the government in deciding which standard to use in the country’s shift to digital TV.

ICTO said the Japanese system is a more appropriate model as the European model has higher modulation and has more complicated modulation techniques.

Both the NTC and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) have endorsed to Malacañang Japan’s Integrated Service Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial or ISDB-T standard over Europe’s Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial 2 or DVB-T2.

NTC was supposed to issue the implementing rules and regulations for digital TV in July 2010 but this was delayed after Malacañang ordered a review. Besides Japan, other countries that have adopted ISDB-T include Brazil, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Paraguay.

The Philippines had planned to migrate to digital TV from analog by 2015.

 â€œIn order to keep pace with developments in technology, the introduction of digital technology in the broadcasting service would ensure the competitiveness of the broadcast industry and afford them the opportunity to provide enhanced services to better service the viewing public,” NTC said.

NTC said there is a need to adopt a specific standard for the delivery of digital terrestrial TV services in order to facilitate the entry of digital broadcast services in the country.

 â€œThe ISDB-T standard shall be the sole standard in the delivery of DTT services in the country,” the agency said.

Cordoba said the country’s complete migration to digital terrestrial television would take at least five years.