ASEAN broadcasters push for common adoption of DVB-T

4 April 2007

Broadcasters who attended the 4th ASEAN Digital Broadcasting (ADB) Meeting held in Kuala Lumpur agreed to recommend the adoption of DVB-T as the ASEAN digital terrestrial broadcasting standard to the 9th Conference of the ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) due to take place in Jakarta in May 2007. The agreement comes just a few days after the Malaysian government announced the formal adoption of DVB-T following successful trial broadcasts.

More than 50 delegates comprising policy makers, regulators and broadcasters from all ten ASEAN countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat attended the 4th ADB Meeting. 

“The adoption of a common standard has very positive implications for ASEAN. For a start, this decision will facilitate the ADB Meeting’s goal of a common digital Set Top Box (STB) for the region,” said Zamani Zakariah, Senior Director, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and Chairman of the 4th ADB Meeting.

With the economies of scale able to be achieved by having a common broadcasting standard and a common STB, consumers in this region are expected to able to enjoy digital television at very affordable prices. The ASEAN nations together represent a population of more than 500 million people.

Among the other issues addressed by the 4th ADB Meeting was the importance for ASEAN countries to also plan and announce their respective analogue switch-off schedule, even if as a preliminary target.