Myanmar Update
In 2005 Myanmar chose DVB-T technology for their terrestrial digital TV network and began transmissions, promoted by MRTV-4, in Yangon on the 7th March 2005.
The adoption of DVB-T was written into legislation in 2006.
By 2008, MRTV-4 had extended DVB-T coverage to 50% of the population with another 15 DVB-T “re-transmission stations”. In Yangon 22 DTT channels consisting of a mix of free to air and pay-TV are available, according to recent information and 10 channels in other major cities.
The number of transmitting stations has now risen to 28 increasing the DTT coverage to 56 % of the population.
The current plan is for analogue switch off to take place when DTT take up has reached 80-90% which might take 15-20 years.
Back ground
Myanmar covers 261,228 square miles and has a population of around 55 million. It is divided into 14 states and divisions, with a total of 325 townships. Analogue TV coverage is around 92% of the population.
Transmission system
Myanmar has chosen to use an 8k DVB-T system broadcast at UHF using 8MHz channel spacing.
In Yangon 64 QAM was used on one of the three channels and 16 QAM on the other two, with code rates of 2/3 and 3/4 respectively. The guard interval was 1/32 for all.
Transmitter powers were 500W for one channel and 2kW for the other two.
In other parts of the country transmitter powers range from 100W to 1.2kW.
Source: DVB correspondents
Item added: 22nd March 2010
Myanmar chooses DVB-T for digital terrestrial TV standard
At the third Asean Digital Broadcasting (ADB) meeting, held on the 29th August in Brunei, it was announced that Myanmar as well as Singapore have chosen DVB-T for its digital terrestrial transmission broadcasting standard.
The main thrust of the meeting was to share knowledge and experience and also plan the transition to a common digital terrestrial television standard in the Asean region. More than 50 delegates from seven Asean countries attended the meeting namely Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines.
Source: Borneo Bulletin
Item added: 30th August 2005
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Last page update: 22nd March 2010, Barry Tew