–change means analog TV sets will have to go

GUYANA’S roadmap for the inevitable transition from analog to digital TV broadcasting  is being pursued with the involvement of all stakeholders, including members of the public.

Officials of the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) will,  in keeping with this policy, hold a public consultation on the subject at the Guyana International Conference Center  (GICC)  tomorrow afternoon, beginning at 5 p.m.
The announcement was made early last week, and all stakeholders, including  consumers, government  officials , broadcasters and retailers of television sets are invited to attend and have their opinions and recommendations heard.
At a recent public forum, Head of the NFMU, Mr. Valmiki Singh  and other speakers had declared that  a switchover from analog to the digital television system was inevitable.
He had stressed at the time that due to improvements in technology, over-the-air analog terrestrial television is being rapidly replaced by digital terrestrial TV.
Many developed countries, including the USA and Canada, have already transitioned to digital TV broadcasts.
Singh had  said that it was just a matter of time when analog TV equipment, transmitters and receivers would not be available on the market anymore.

 “DROP-DEAD DATE”
June 17, 2015  has been identified as a “drop-dead date” for many European and Middle East  countries to complete the transition.
Some broadcasters had expressed qualms about the “switchover”, stating that it would be very costly for them to replace their  analog  transmitters with digital transmitters.
Guyanese consumers will also have to scrap their analog television sets.
Because of its complexity, the Guyana  programme for determining a roadmap for the transition has been funded by the South Korean Government via the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a specialized agency for Telecommunications within the United Nations.
The ITU has stated that countries which do not make the switchover by 2016 will not get any help or protection if their signals are interfered with by any other party.

(By Clifford Stanley)