PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo will today address the launching of the Educational Television Broadcasting Station (ETBS) at the National Centre for Education Resource Development (NCERD) office in Kingston at 14:00 hrs. “The launching of the Educational TV is transformative and is designed to provide educational content to both schools and to the public. This delivery is supported content-wise by local, regional and international bodies that have welcomed Guyana into the fold of public broadcasting,” said Dr. Roger Luncheon.
The Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary was speaking to members of the media during his post-Cabinet press briefing held at the Office of the President yesterday.
He said the National Communications Network (NCN), using satellite, would support the technical aspect of the transmission of the television channel.
“The delivery is planned to be nationwide in three phases. Already I am told the Phase One started programming and delivery [on Wednesday].  Phase Two which is for the distant coastal and riverine areas would be on stream by the end of April and by the end of May, the hinterland, Deep South Rupununi and such places will also be on-stream,” he said.
The HPS said the reliance on transmission in the border regions – [near] Suriname, Venezuela, and in Brazil continues to be a technical problem in working with their frequency management entities to avoid disruption and interference with trans-border signal.
Asked how much money has been spent on the educational channel, Dr. Luncheon said that this is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The contracts were awarded for the satellite link-up and for the procurement of goods and services months ago in the third quarter of 2010,” he said.