Millions of Japanese households not ready for ISDB-T

Six months before the planned switch from analogue to digital broadcasting, up to 2.5 million households among some 50 million households in Japan are not yet ready, the Japanese Communications Ministry said on Friday, according to the Japan Times.
Broadcasters in Japan, including NHK, will stop analogue broadcasting at noon on the 24th July.
As the government plans to complete the transition to ISDB-T on time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will promote measures to help prepare the households, it said. The number of unprepared households decreased in three months from some 7.5 million as of the end of September, according to the ministry.
On Friday, Communications Minister Yoshihiro Katayama told a press conference: ‘‘I have no intention of postponing the deadline (for completion).’’
Source: Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union
Item added: 31st January 2011