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