CAMPINAS, BRAZIL: Harris Corp. said it opened a new transmitter factory in Brazil today. The facility will manufacture low- and mid-power UHF TV transmitter products to support the region’s transition to digital television. It’s located in an area 80 miles northwest of Sao Paulo, and will produce Harris Maxiva UAX air-cooled, solid-state transmitters to market in Brazil, the Mercosur and Latin America.

Harris said the strong growth potential of the Brazilian broadcast market led it to open a plant there. Brazil adopted ISDB-Tb for digital broadcasting. The nation’s transition completion target is 2016. Harris said only around 120 of 10,000 TV licensees had gone digital so far.

“With the DTV rollout just beginning to gain momentum, and with the world’s highest-profile sporting events coming to Brazil in 2014 and 2016, the timing of this initiative could not be better,” said Harris’s Nahuel Villegas in the announcement of the facility.

The new Brazil operation will allow Harris to leverage Mercosur trade agreements and the Basic Productive Process, which provides tax incentives for products produced in the country. Harris has also registered its Maxiva UAX transmitters with the Brazilian Development Bank, which will provide financing for potential buyers.

Harris said the Campinas factory is designed to scale up operations as demand increases during the approaching 2016 deadline. Low- and medium-powered transmitters are expected to comprise around 90 percent of demand. The company has sold 60 transmitters in the region to date.

-- Television Broadcast