Colombia kicks off phase 3 of DTT deployment

Through an $11 million investment, Colombia has kicked off the third phase of its DTT deployment plan, which will bring the digital TV to nearly 88% of the population.

According to the public media authority RTVC, the money will be invested in acquiring, installing and switching on DVB-T2 equipment. The project includes the building of 15 stations that will increase DTT coverage to 87.7% over the next year, aiming for 92% coverage by 2018. However, the initial DTT schedule planned to take the digital signal to the entire population by the end of 2015, a goal that has been continuously postponed.

“We intend DTT to arrive to 100% of Colombians, which is why we are now carrying this new deployment phase, which will give many towns access to more content, better quality and high definition TV,” said John Jairo Ocampo, manager, RTVC.

The 15 new stations will be built in the areas of Bañaderos, Buenaventura, Buenavista, Cerro Azul, Cerro Carepa, El Ruíz, Galeras, Jurisdicciones, La Rusia, Leticia, Martinica, Mirador, Montezuma, Munchique and Saboyá.

Colombia’s switch-off is scheduled for 2019, but telecom and TV authorities intend to reach total coverage much sooner to ensure families have the digital technology they need before the analogue signal disappears.

Source: RapidTVnews