The Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) has reaffirmed that digital terrestrial television broadcasts will be free for the public.
“It will be free to air with no subscription fee, in contrast to cable television or paid television,” director general of information and public communication, Usman Kansong, said at a webinar held by the Indonesian Journalists Association here on Thursday.
He made the statement in response to reports there is a lack of public understanding on the planned switch in terrestrial television broadcast technology from analog to digital, which will be gradually rolled out next year.
There are still people who think digital terrestrial television broadcasts are the same as cable television broadcasts or streaming services, he noted.
“The digital television broadcast is not accessed through streaming on a mobile device, not a subscribed television, not a TV box that must be connected to the Internet. It remains terrestrial, free to air, but uses digital systems instead,” Kansong explained. The technological transformation from analog to digital requires different devices which are television devices that use DVB-T2 to catch digital signals, he informed. Meanwhile, television antennas can utilize UHF devices, he pointed out.
If the television device still uses analog models, people need to add a set-top box to capture digital broadcasts, he informed.
The government and digital broadcast multiplexing agencies will seek to provide subsidies in the form of free set-top boxes to eligible people, he highlighted.
“The migration of terrestrial television broadcasts from analog to digital is a must for a network advancement from 4G to 5G,” he added.
The government earlier announced a change in schedule for the switch-off of analog terrestrial television broadcasts (ASO). The first phase of the switch-off, which had been planned for August 17, 2021, has now been postponed to April 30, 2022.
Although the original schedule of the analog switch-off has been delayed, the termination of analog broadcasts will certainly meet the November 2, 2022 deadline, as stipulated in the Job Creation Law, Kansong said.
Source: Antara News