Mobile Operators want DVB-H
Michelle Bachelet, the President of Chile is reviewing the results of the country’s digital terrestrial television tests according to a report published on iProfessional.com.
According to the article Bachelet met with officials in the government committee tasked with reviewing the results of the trial, which looked at the three major DTT standards DVB-T, ATSC, and the Brazilian version of ISDB-T. A government spokesman said that the review would take as long as necessary to make a decision, which would affect the country for the next 40 to 50 years.
Regardless of the system choice Chile’s three cellular operators want to be allocated UHF frequencies for a DVB-H service even if ATSC or ISDB-T are chosen instead of DVB-T.
Before this can happen the Telecommunications laws will have to be changed and the Undersecretary of Telecommunications has said that the country plans to put up the available UHF channels for a bidding contest at a later date.
Source: iProfessional.com.
Item added: 11th August 2008



Chile to decide on DTT system in August
Recent reports in the Argentine press say that the Chilean government has announced that the regulations relating to the terrestrial digital TV system, to be adopted by Chile, will be sent to the National Congress in August.
The decision on whether to adopt the US ATSC system, the Japanese ISDB-T system or the DVB-T system as the standard for DTT in Chile has been delayed several times before.
In the past Pablo Belo, the Undersecretary of Telecommunications has remarked that none of the three competing systems is categorically better than another, a view that might be making a decision more difficult.
Source: Argenpress.info
Item added: 15th July 2008

Chile delays decision on Digital TV standard once more
The decision on which Digital Terrestrial Systems is to be adopted by Chile has been delayed once more.
Now the end of March 2008 is given as the new deadline for the announcement.
The delay is said to be due to renewed interest in some of the competing systems and what seems like some negative and inaccurate information as to the various systems capabilities.
DVB-T is already used by another NTSC 6MHz channelled country, Taiwan and the most recent figures from the Taiwan DTV Committee indicate that sales of DVB-T receivers have now passed the 2 million mark in that country.
Taiwan is also trialing HDTV and DVB-H services on its system.
In other parts of the world HDTV is already being broadcast using DVB-T in both 720p and 1080i formats and the DVB-H system delivering multiple TV channels to handheld has been recommended as the standard for use in the European Community.
The Japanese system ISDB-T also has a mobile capability using 1/13th of its bandwidth (one segment) but this limited bandwidth only allows one or two programmes to be received on handheld’s, much less than the multi-channel capability of DVB-H.
According to reports, the National Television Association ANATEL agreed with the decision to delay the standard selection "as long as it helps to make the right choice", as the standards selection will impact the local TV industry "for the next 30 to 50 years."
Main source: theinquirer.net
Item added: 3rd January 2008

Decision on DTT Standard Extended by two months
Following further lobbying by ATSC and a recent a trip to Japan, Pablo Belo, the Undersecretary of Telecommunications, has put off the decision on a DTT standard choice for Chile, for another two months.
During September and October further trials will be taking place in 160 homes in Santiago. Measurements will be taken every 30 minutes to test the quality of transmissions using ISDB-T, ATSC and DVB-T. Subtel will analyse the behaviour of the three systems in equal conditions following an international protocol, which has already been put up for public consultation.
Source: Mouse
Item added: 18th September 2007



Ministry to test digital TV standards over the next 3-months
Chiles Government will evaluate the technical standards and implications of the three competing terrestrial digital TV standards over the next three months, according to an announcement by telecommunications and transport minister Réne Cortázar at the second government sponsored debate on Digital TV in Santiago.
Another study will consider the general economic advantages and disadvantages of one standard over another, such as the cost of set-top-boxes.
Cortázar mentioned that interactive TV, more channels and higher quality were the main priorities for a digital TV system.
Pablo Belo the head of Subtel, the telecom regulator, said that he was confident that a decision would be made this year and that there would probably be an 8-10 year grace period before analogue TV is completely replaced by the chosen digital alternative.
Source: Business News Americas
Item added: 26th June 2007

Decision on DTT standard delayed
Chile’s decision on a terrestrial digital TV standard has been delayed following the unexpected resignation of the Minister for Transport and Communication, Sergio Espejo.
René Cortázar who replaces Espejo needs time to review the existing documentation and technical assessments, which have already taken place, before a final political conclusion is reached.
A delay of two months or more is expected before a new decision is announced.
Source: DiarioFinanciero
Item added: 2nd April 2007


Ministry denies that Chile has already decided on ATSC
Following press reports that Chile had chosen the US, ATSC system as its terrestrial digital TV standard, the Ministry of Transports and Telecommunications issued a categorical denial in a press release dated 27th November.
It went on to say that the process of deciding on which standard to choose is fully transparent. A technical seminar on the 25th October started the formal decision making process and a series of public hearings were begun to discuss the issues involved. These will be completed by December 15th. Technical system tests are also underway and until these activities are completed no decision will be made. The Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Pablo Bello said, “ the Government will make the final decision soon, but that they were still in heat of technical and financial analysis of the different systems”. He went on to add “that the decision on which system to adopt will be based on the one which allows the greatest flexibility from the point of view of the benefits, the technical attributes and smallest cost to Chileans”
Source: Press release “27th Nov.06 Ministerio de Transportes Y Telecomunicaciones”
Item added: 28th November 2006

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Last page update: 11th August 2008, Barry Tew