Chile will be evaluating the DVB-T, ISDB-T (or Brazilian variation) and ATSC DTV standards over the next three months, according to an article in Business News Americas. Chile’s ministry of telecommunications and transport will investigate technical issues such as the quality of reception and overall coverage for the three standards. Another study will look at the economic advantages of one standard over another. The article indicated the cost of set-top boxes is one criteria being studied.
The article noted that “ATSC has seen the most recent adoption in Latin America,” referring to the adoption of the ATSC standard in Honduras. Regulators are considering an 8-10 year transition period before completely ending analog TV transmissions.
The Dominican Republic is also investigating digital radio and TV. ATSC president Robert Graves was in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic last week attending the country’s First Interactive Digital Radio Forum. At the forum, Dominican Telecom Institute (Indotel) president Jose Rafael Vargas said that the ability to simultaneously transmit several programs on one channel is one of the advantages of digital broadcasting.
