List of digital television deployments by country

This is a list of digital television deployments by country, which summarises the process and progress of transition from analogue to digital broadcasting. It is current as of December 2007.

The transition to digital television is a process that follows different paces around the world. Although digital satellite television is now commonplace, the switch to digital cable and terrestrial television has taken longer. See also Digital terrestrial television.

Africa

Namibia

While Namibia's public broadcasters still rely on analogue transmission and have not announced a transition date to digital television, the pay-TV operator Multichoice already operates a digital television service using the DVB-T standard.

outh Africa

The first digital television implementation in South Africa was a satellite-based system launched by pay-TV operator Multichoice in 1995. On 22 February 2007 the South African government announced that the country's public TV operators would be broadcasting in digital by 1 November 2008, followed by a three year dual-illumination period which would end on 1 November 2011.

Morocco

National Television Company in Morocco started DVB-T based digital TV deployment on February 2007 [web cite|url=http://www.snrt.ma/Lancement-de-la-TNT-au-Maroc_a1567.html|title=Lancement de la TNT au Maroc|publisher=SNRT|accessdate=2008-03-28|date=2007-03-6] .

Digital TV is now available in the following cities and their regions [web cite|url=http://www.snrt.ma/index.php?action=faq|title=QUESTIONS/REPONSES TNT|publisher=SNRT|accessdate=2008-03-28] : Casablanca, Benslimane, Settat, Nouaceur, Mediouna, Mohammedia, Rabat, Salé, Skhirat-Temara, Kenitra, Sidi Kacem, Khemisset, Meknes, Fes, Oujda, Tanger and Marrakech.

Asia

China

In June and September 2003, the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) selected 41 experimental spots for digital television trials and launched the trials later before year end 2003. [web cite|url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/me/2004-01-15/1051282740.shtml|title=Trials of digital televisions in China in 2003|publisher=Sina Tech|accessdate=2008-02-11|date=2004-01-15] Later, according to the Tenth Five Year Plan and 2010 long-range plan for radio, film and television, SARFT drafted a switch-off timetable for different levels of Chinese cities, towns and counties, in which it was commanded that by 2010 digital broadcasting be implemented overall and by 2015 analog televisions be phased out completely. [web cite|url=http://www.sarft.gov.cn/articles/2003/05/08/20070908214928360717.html|title=The digital television switch-off timetable in China|publisher=The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television|accessdate=2008-02-11|date=2004-09-13] It was estimated that by year end 2007, China would have over 27 million digital TV users. [web cite|url=http://www.ccidconsulting.com/news/channel/2007ICTreview_deail.asp?Content_id=14500|title=China will have over 27 million digital TV users by 2007|publisher=CCID consulting|accessdate=2008-02-11|date=2007-12-22]

In 2004, debates arose about whether the digital television technology by Tsinghua University or Shanghai Jiaotong University should be adopted as the national standards. Finally, in late July 2007, China announced the final version of standards as a combined one and Tsinghua succeeded in this battle as 95% of its technology has been adopted. [web cite|url=http://news.chinabyte.com/szds06/435/2490935.shtml|title=95% of the Tsinghua scheme was adopted|publisher=ChinaByte|accessdate=2008-02-11|date=2007-07-18]

On September 1st, 2005, the first HDTV channel in China, which would be broadcast nation-wide later, began to air in Hangzhou. [web cite|url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/it/2005-09-01/0523708574.shtml|title=China's first HDTV channel aired in Hangzhou|publisher=Sina Tech|accessdate=2008-02-11|date=2005-09-01] [web cite|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/newmedia/2005-08/15/content_3355765.htm|title=China planned to air HDTV in four cities|publisher=Xinhuanet|accessdate=2008-02-11|date=2005-08-15]

Hong Kong

On Dec 31, 2007, local broadcasters started to air HD TV (1920X1080i) using Chinese DMB-T standard (similar to DVB-T). Currently, there are 2 HD channels with one airing 24 hours daily. The mainland Chinese government will likely want to be able to jam TV signals from Hong Kong, so that Chinese citizens near the border cannot receive uncensored content from Hong Kong. By the same token, Hong Kong broadcasters are keen to use whichever standard China adopts, since doing so would allow them to transmit into the lucrative Southern China market, and would lessen the need for costly format conversion.

Israel

The Knesset (the Israeli parliament) approved the law regarding DTT in late 2007. The Second Authority for Radio and Television will be responsible for the deployment of the system. The package will consist of 5 channels: IBA1, IBA33, Channel 2, Channel 10 and The Knesset Channel. Transmissions will be in MPEG-4 and were expected to launch before the end of 2008 nation-wide but as usual with local politics involved, the project has been delayed till mid-2009. There are proceedings in the Knesset to add Channel 23 (Israeli Educational Television) to the system as well.

Japan

Japan pioneered HDTV for decades with an analogue implementation. The old system is not compatible with the new digital standards. Japanese terrestrial broadcasting of HD via ISDB-T started in December 1, 2003 in the Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya metropolitan areas of Japan. It has been reported that 31 million HD receivers have been sold in Japan as of January 2008. [ [http://www.jeita.or.jp/japanese/stat/digital/2008/ JEITA / 統計データ ] ]

The Japanese government is studying the implementation of some improvements on the standard as suggested by Brazilian researchers (SBTVD). These new features are unlikely to be adopted in Japan due to incompatibility problems, but are being considered for use in future implementations in other countries, including Brazil itself. [cite web|title=Brasil fecha acordo com padrão japonês de TV Digital |url=http://noticias.terra.com.br/brasil/interna/0,,OI1051346-EI306,00.html|accessdate=2006-06-26]

The move to DTV by consumers is relatively slow, partly because HD TVs are very expensive. Additionally there have been issues with the B-CAS system and Digital Rights Management in respect to the home recording of broadcasts.

December 20 2007, Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association set the rule (of copy control) for DTT broadcasting allows consumers up to 10 time of dubbing of entire TV program with video and audio into DVD recorder and etc. by naming "Dubbing 10" () (actually up to 9 times of copy then 1 time or last time of move) and is pposed to start the broadcasting with "Dubbing 10" on about June 2, 4:00 a.m. 2008, but postponed [Due to the business political issue still not resolved among concerning parties.] that settled after long talks with Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers, then confirmed to start on about July 4, 4:00 a.m. 2008. The manufacture for DVD recorder and associated DTT recorder will make unit conforming "Dubbing 10" rule and some manufacture shall release the down loading subprogram to up date recorder's internal software for existing user.

April 3 2008, Dpa (The Association for Promotion of Digital Broadcasting-Japan) announced that total 32.71 million of DTT (ISDB-T) receiving TV sets (except 1seg receiver) are installed in Japan as of end of March 2008. Dpa also announced the guide line documentation to manufacture who make the DTT receive, recod and replay unit to operate with Personal computer on April 8 2008 . This add-on unit operates on USB or PCI BUS, and on sale from mid. May 2008.

outh Korea (Republic of Korea)

After a long controversy between the government and broadcasters in South Korea, ATSC was chosen over DVB-T. Since 2005, digital services have been available across the entire country.

Malaysia

The first digital television service in Malaysia was launched by satellite based pay-TV operator ASTRO in 1996 using the DVB-S system. A competing service, MiTV, was launched in 2005 and used a custom IPTV over DVB-T infrastructure, but shut down a few months later. The company was subsequently renamed to "U Television" and are now revamping their system to use standard encrypted DVB-T. Their sister company, "U Mobile", offers digital TV under the service name "Mobile LiveTV" and transmits using DVB-H.

Starting from September 2006, the Malaysian national broadcaster RTM began its trial Digital Terrestrial Digital Television (DDTV) service for six months to 2000 selected households in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas on UHF Band 658MHz and 674MHz using the DVB-T standard. The trial DDTV service will offer the current 2 analogue TV channels (i.e. RTM1 and RTM2) in digital, and 2 new digital-only channels, namely RTMi (covering drama, music, news/current affairs and sports) and Music Active (all music). RTMi will be broadcasting from 7pm to midnight daily while Music Active will be from 9am to midnight. Also provided under the service are seven FM radio stations in digital audio and interactive services. As of early 2008, an additional Sports channel, Arena, was added, a new channel called Berita Aktif is scheduled for addition to the service, Music Active is made a 24 hour station, and RTMi's transmission time is extended to start from 3PM to past midnight. Nationwide implementation is planned to begin by the year 2007 or 2008, although as of August 2008 digital transmission is still only available in the Klang Valley. All the above digital television services are in standard definition and RTM will initiate HDTV trials by 2009. [cite news|url=http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news.php?id=17531|title=September Trial Programme For Digital TV|author=Syed Azwan Syed Ali|publisher=Bernama] Currently there are no announced plans by either ASTRO or Media Prima for HDTV services, although it has been rumored that ASTRO is performing in-house tests on the feasibility of transmitting HD content.

Philippines

Philippine television broadcasting giant ABS-CBN has recently applied for the digital television-terrestrial service (DTT) license to the National Telecommunications Commission of the Philippines, that will switch off its analogue broadcast (Channel 2 Manila) as early as 2010 [ [http://telecomseurope.net/article.php?id_article=2272 ABS-CBN to end analog TV service ] ] . ABS-CBN has recently been experimenting the transmission of digital signals on Channel 51.

The Associated Broadcasting Company (ABC-5) have also expressed their intention of switching their current analogue television broadcast set-up (DWET-TV 5). They are testing DVB-H on Channel 47.

Eventually, the Philippines will use and adopt the European standard DVB-T for terrestrial transmissions. After the shutdown of analogue television (which is scheduled by the end of 2015), the European standard for digital will replace the current (U.S.) standard for analog, NTSC. [cite web |url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=55179 |title=NTC gives TV stations 9 years to convert to digital tech |accessdate=2007-11-30]

Another big media outfit, GMA Network also plans to test DVB-H in Manila, as demand for content on mobile phones increases.

Digital-television launched many Cable TV companies such as SkyCable, Global Destiny Cable, Cablelink and some major cable TV companies in the Provinces, such as Negros Province, Cebu, Iloilo, Palawan, CALABARZON, Central Luzon, Ilocos Province, Davao, Misamis Province and Zamboanga, will announced by 2008 or 2009.

ingapore

On Wednesday, May 31 2006, Singapore officially began HDTV trials. Two Singaporean broadcasters were involved, Mediacorp (broadcasting HD in DVB-T) and Starhub CableVision (DVB-C). Both broadcast in 1080i, but at 50 Hz, in line with the traditional PAL frequency Singapore uses.

Taiwan (Republic of China)

Digital television launched terrestrially throughout Taiwan on July 2, 2004. Currently, there are simulcasts of analogue and digital television. Taiwan plans to replace analogue broadcasting with a digital system by 2008. To assist lower-income families with the switch to digital television, the government plans to provide NT$300 million in aid to purchase converters or for the purchase of new digital televisions. [cite web |url=http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=36099 |title=Cabinet launches move to digital TV |accessdate=2007-11-30]

audi Arabia

The first phase of digital terrestrial television (DTT) transmission in Saudi Arabia was launched on the 11 June in the main cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, the Arab News reports. Assistant Deputy Minister of Culture and Information for Engineering Affairs, Riyadh Najm, said: "The southern city of Abha and the central city of Buraidah will also have the facility within this month." He added, "By February next year the DTT system will cover not less than 23 cities and that accounts for more than 70 percent of the population". He also said the DTT technology would allow people to receive all the four Saudi channels (Channel One, Channel Two, Arriyadiah and Al-Ekhbaria) as well as the Saudi radio programmes (General Programme, Radio Qur’an, Second Programme and European Programme) with better clarity. [cite web |url=http://www.dvb.org/about_dvb/dvb_worldwide/saudi_arabia/ |title=Saudi Arabia Latest |accessdate=2007-11-30]

Australia

Europe

Croatia

Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) started to transmit DVB-S programmes in 1997. It transmits all three state-owned TV channels (HRT 1, HRT 2, HRT 3, later replaced by HRT Plus), and three radio stations (HR 1, HR 2 and HR 3).

Croatia started to test DVB-T transmission early in 2001. It transmits 4 national TV channels (HRT 1, HRT 2, RTL Televizija, Nova TV). Odašiljači i veze built a network of 9 transmitters, completed in 2007 and covering about 70% of the country. It plans to close down analogue broadcasting in 2010.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom now has five major forms of broadcast digital television, direct-to-home satellite services provided by British Sky Broadcasting (commonly known as Sky) and Freesat, digital cable television services provided by Virgin Media and WightCable, and a free-to-air digital terrestrial service called Freeview. In addition an IPTV system known as BT Vision is provided by BT. Individual access methods vary throughout the country. For most UK viewers, FreeSat, Sky or Virgin Media cable are the only sources of HDTV broadcast available in their area and the latter two come at a price over and above their standard TV packages.

Terrestrial

The initial attempt at launching a digital terrestrial broadcasting service, ONdigital (later called ITV Digital), was unsuccessful and the company went into liquidation.

ITV Digital was replaced in late 2002 by Freeview, which uses the same DVB-T technology, but with higher levels of error correction and more robust (but lower-capacity) modulation on the "Public Service" multiplexes in an attempt to counter the reception problems which dogged its predecessor. Rather than concentrating on Pay TV services, Freeview uses the available capacity to provide a free-to-air service that includes all the existing five free-to-air analogue terrestrial channels and about twenty new digital channels. All services are transmitted in SDTV mode.

March 31, 2004 saw the return of a limited pay-television offering to the digital terrestrial platform with the launch of Top Up TV. This new service is designed to appeal to those who do not want to pay the high subscription fees that Sky Television and the Cable networks demand. The service carries a restricted hours service of some of the UK’s most watched channels including the Discovery Channel, UKTV Gold, Discovery Real Time, British Eurosport and Cartoon Network, sharing just three different slots. In October 2006, Top Up TV renamed itself Top Up TV Anytime, taking advantage of the increase in the popularity of Digital Video Recorders, and its limited channel space. Now over 100 programs (not channels) are broadcast overnight and added to the box's hard drive, and may be watched at any time. Channels that provide content for the overnight service include MTV, Nickelodeon and Hallmark Channel.

2005 saw the first areas of the United Kingdom losing their analogue signal in a pilot test. The residents of Ferryside and Llansteffan in Carmarthenshire, Wales who had not already upgraded to digital television were given a free set-top box to receive the Freeview television service, which includes Channel 4 (previously unavailable terrestrially from transmitters in Wales) and S4C~2, which broadcasts sessions of the National Assembly for Wales. Digital transmissions for this pilot commenced in December 2004, at which time a message was added to the analogue picture advising viewers that the analogue services would end in February 2005.

2005 also saw the announcement by the regulator Ofcom about the proposed analogue switch off plans for the UK. It is proposed that the switch off will progress on an ITV region by region basis starting in 2008 with the Border Television region, and ending in the Channel Television region in 2012. The coverage of the 3 public service broadcasting multiplexes will be the same as that enjoyed by the current analogue TV stations (98.5% of the population), while the 3 commercial multiplexes will eventually cover 90% of the population.

Freeview HD

The BBC already produces some programmes (documentaries and drama) in HD for a service on digital satellite, [cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/whatson/search/daylist.cgi?day=Today&service_id=2075 |title=Listings for BBC HD |accessdate=2007-11-30] and foreign markets, such as the USA and Japan. The corporation intends to produce all its programmes in HD by the year 2010, and to broadcast all of its channels in HD "as soon as practical". [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4417202.stm |title=BBC to trial high-definition TV |accessdate=2007-11-30]

There are no immediate launch plans for HDTV versions of the Freeview and Top Up TV digital terrestrial television services, because there is no spare bandwidth available nationally. This may change after the UK's analogue television signals are switched off. However, no special provision is being made by Ofcom for HDTV, and broadcasters will have to bid against other uses for the frequencies during the Digital Dividend Review.

The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five ran terrestrial HDTV trials involving 450 homes in the London area during June-December 2006 on locally unused frequencies. [cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/11_november/08/hdtv.shtml |title=BBC to trial High Definition broadcasts in 2006 |accessdate=2007-11-30] As part of this trial, the BBC is already broadcasting BBC HD which is free to air but cannot be received by any set-top boxes currently commercially available. It can however be received and played back by a PC equipped with a DVB-T card that is within range (as the broadcast is not encrypted) using a software h264 decoder.

Cable

Trials of the UK's first HDTV service began on 2 December 2005. Telewest, a cable TV company now known as Virgin Media, distributed HDTV programmes to 400 customers in the south London area. On 10 March 2006 NTL confirmed that HDTV was available nationally in the former Telewest areas. The service is provided via a personal video recorder, branded as "TV Drive", and costs GBP 10 per month on top of Telewest's top TV package, or GBP 15 per month on top of lower tiers. WightCable also provide cable television to the residents of the Isle of Wight.

atellite

On November 1, 2005 ITV turned off encryption on all of its satellite based signals, following the lead from the BBC. These transmissions are on a limited spotbeam which is aimed primarily towards the United Kingdom, via the Astra 2D satellite located at 28.2 degrees east. This theoretically limits reception to the UK, Republic of Ireland and Iceland, allowing ITV to fulfill licensing agreements with content producers. However, many people report successful reception of these signals from across Europe by using larger dishes.

Sky HD is offered by BSkyB in both the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland as an add-on to their existing Sky Digital subscription service. The BBC is broadcasting BBC HD as a free to air channel from the Astra 2D satellite, and the channel can be viewed for free with suitable satellite reception equipment. There are additional equipment and subscription charges for HD from Sky TV but they are broadcasting an increasing number of channels in the HD format. Sky also offers a free-to-air version of its regular Sky Digital service known as Freesat from Sky. Freesat from Sky provides a non-subscription card for public service broadcast channels Channel 4 and Five, however Film4, Film4+1 are free-to-air.

On 12 July, 2006, the BBC and ITV announced a free-to-air satellite service as a competitor to Freesat from Sky, to be called Freesat. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4221722.stm |title=BBC and ITV to start Sky TV rival |accessdate=2007-11-30] The service was officially launched on 6 May 2008 [cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7384928.stm |title=Free satellite TV service begins
work= BBC News
publisher=bbc.co.uk
date= 2008-04-06
accessdate=2008-05-07] and covers all BBC and ITV digital TV channels, plus interactive services, radio channels, and other channels. It is being touted as the satellite equivalent to Freeview (United Kingdom), especially for areas unable to receive the Freeview DTT service. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4223086.stm |title=Q&A: Freesat |accessdate=2007-11-30]

Romania

Republic of Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, currently there are two providers of digital television and a third is shortly going from official to unofficial trial mode. Sky Ireland which is operated by the BSkyB satellite service (available nationwide), and UPC Ireland's digital-cable service. Digital Television is also available by IPTV provider HomeVision.

Boxer TV are the third provider who operate the Digital Aerial/Terrestrial Television platform being rolled out by RTÉ NL over the next 5 years [http://www.rtenl.ie/dtt.html] . This service will offer subscription services and free-to-air channels sometime in late 2009 using MPEG4 standard. [http://www.bci.ie/DTT/licensing.html]

Belgium

In Belgium, digital TV is available and everything is both broadcast in analog and digital signal and is provided by almost all providers.

Finland

Analogue terrestrial television was switched off in Finland on 1 September 2007.

weden

The shutdown of the analogue service in Sweden started on September 19 2005 and was finished on October 15 2007.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, there are four forms of broadcast digital television. Sky's satellite service (available nationwide), Freeview's satellite service (available nationwide), Freeview's terrestrial service (available in main centres) and TelstraClear's cable service (available in Wellington and Christchurch)

atellite

Sky TV launched New Zealand's first nationwide digital TV service in December 1998 and had a monopoly on digital satellite TV until the launch of Freeview's nationwide digital Satellite service in May 2007.

Terrestrial

The Freeview terrestrial service, named Freeview|HD is a high definition digital terrestrial television service launched on April 14, 2008. The service currently serves areas surrounding Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier-Hastings, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

Cable

Digital cable television currently operates in Wellington and Christchurch on TelstraClear's cable TV system.

North America

Canada

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has adopted the same digital television standard for stations in Canada as the United States. The CRTC initially decided not to enforce a single date for transitioning to digital broadcasts, opting to let the economy decide when the switchover will occur. However, a later decision settled on the date of August 31, 2011. [ Canadian TV to go all-digital in 2011. Wikinews, 2007-05-17 http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Canadian_TV_to_go_all-digital_in_2011]

CITY-TV was the first Canadian station to provide digital terrestrial service. As of 2007, other digital stations on-air include the CBC and Radio-Canada stations in Toronto and Montreal, as well as CTV's CFTO and CIVT, and CKXT ("SUN TV"). This list is not necessarily exhaustive and other station launches are completed or pending, although most are in the largest markets of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Also, this does not include digital or high definition versions of specialty services.

On November 22, 2003, CBC had their first broadcast in HD, in the form of the Heritage Classic outdoor NHL game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. Bell TV, a Canadian satellite company, Rogers Cable and Vidéotron provide somewhat more than 21 HDTV channels to their subscribers including TSN HD, Rogers SportsNet HD, Discovery HD (Canadian Edition),The Movie Network HD, and several U.S. stations plus some PBS feeds and a couple of pay-TV movie channels. CTV Toronto broadcast in HD along with its western counterpart, BC CTV. They were also the first to broadcast a terrestrial HD digital ATSC signal in Canada. Global joined the crowd in late 2004. Other networks are continuing to announce availability of HD signals. CHUM Limited's Citytv in Toronto was the first HDTV broadcaster in Canada; however, now most cable and satellite subscribers across Canada can access multiple channels in HDTV with major American and Canadian affiliate stations broadcasting HDTV signals with no CANCON overlay for advertising. Typically these channels are NBC HD, ABC HD, CBS HD, FOX HD, TSN HD, Sportsnet HD, CBC HD, etc., as of summer 2006. CBC HD officially launched their HDTV programming on March 5 2005. CBC HD broadcasts the first game of their Hockey Night In Canada Saturday double header in HDTV. The 2006 NHL Playoffs games have seen an increased amount of HDTV coverage as well. Star Choice, another Canadian satellite provider, currently offers its subscribers 14 HDTV channels at no extra cost. Shaw Cable has found limited success with HDTV implementation since the cost of a HD PVR is near the $750 CAD mark. Monthly rentals for this equipment are not available; however, they do offer financing on 36-month terms through a third-party credit company.

Mexico

Mexican television company Televisa made experimental HDTV broadcasts in the early-1990s, in collaboration with Japan's NHK. Some events are now broadcast in high definition. During the first half of 2005, at least one cable provider in Mexico City, Cablevision, has begun to offer 5 HDTV channels to subscribers purchasing a digital video recorder (DVR).

By the third quarter of 2005, HDTV transmissions from TV Azteca were available in Mexico's largest markets: Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Phase Two of TV Azteca's national roll-out brought HDTV services to six cities along the Mexico-U.S. border (Matamoros, Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Juarez, Mexicali, and Tijuana) by the first half of 2006. This roll-out took advantage of HDTV receivers already in place thanks to an earlier HDTV roll-out by stations on the American side of the border. TV Azteca has also broadcast the Mexican football tournament in HDTV.

XETV in Tijuana, Baja California, is on the air in HDTV using 720p format. This affiliate of the American Fox Network is on UHF channel 23 broadcasting from Mt. San Antonio in Tijuana, with 403,000 watts, directed primarily northward at San Diego. In January 2006, Televisa's XEFB-TV and Multimedios' XHAW-TV in Monterrey began HDTV transmissions on UHF channels 48 and 50, respectively. In February 2006, Televisa's XHUAA in Tijuana began its HDTV transmissions on channel 20. Unfortunately they have no HDTV programs. Channel 20 broadcasts an upconverted version of the programs of XHUAA's analog signal on channel 57.

Official plan for Mexican DTT

Currently there are 36 digital channels in Mexico. They are:
*7 in Mexico DF
*6 in Monterrey
*5 in Guadalajara
*5 in Tijuana
*3 in Juarez
*3 in Mexicali
*2 in Reynosa
*2 in Matamoros
*3 in Nuevo Laredo

The transition calls for 6 triannual periods and started on July 5, 2004 just three days after they adopted ATSC. The analog signal will be cut off no later than January 1, 2022. [cite web |url=http://www.cft.gob.mx/wb/COFETEL/COFE_Periodos_de_Transicion_a_la_TDT |title=Televisión Digital Terrestre (TDT) |accessdate=2007-11-30 (in Spanish)] The analog signal can be turned off in a region once COFETEL determines that there is a high enough presence of digital TVs, defined as:

*Digital Presence = At least 20% of what is reached by the analog signal
*Digital Replication = At least 90% of what is reached by analog signal

Phase I

Phase I was from July 5, 2004 to December 31, 2006.Digital presence of at least 2 commercial signals in the following cities:
**México, D.F.
**Monterrey, N.L.
**Guadalajara, Jal.
**Tijuana, B.C.
**Mexicali, B.C.
**Cd. Juárez, Chih.
**Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas
**Matamoros, Tamaulipas
**Reynosa, Tamaulipas

Phase II

Phase II is in progress, and began on January 1, 2007, completing on December 31, 2009.
*Digital replication of signal of Phase I
*Digital presence of at least 2 commercial signals in cities with 1.5 million people or more.

Phase III

January 1, 2010 - December 31, 2012
*Digital replication of signal of Phase II
*Digital presence of non-commercial signals in cities with 1.5 million people or more.
*Digital presence of at least 2 commercial signals in cities with 1 million people or more.
*All digital Channels must broadcast at least 20% HDTV. At least one hour during primetime, and at least one hour during the morning.

Phase IV

January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2015
*Digital replication of signal of Phase III
*Digital presence of non commercial signals in cities with 1 million people or more.
*Digital presence of at least 2 commercial signals in cities with half a million people or more.

Phase V

January 1, 2016 - December 31, 2018
*Digital replication of signal of Phase IV
*Digital presence of non commercial signals in cities with half a million people or more.
*Digital presence of at least 2 commercial signals in cities with 150 thousand people or more.

Phase VI

January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2021
*Digital replication of all analog signals

While Televisa Has HDTV channels in places other than Mexico city, like Ciudad Juárez, Tijuana, Monterrey and others, there are certain shows they only show in HD in Mexico City. In places other than Mexico City, they show some sort of weird Schedule-Vision. For Example in the HD version of XHJCI-TV in Juarez they only turn on the HD signal from Mexico city from 6 PM - 9 PM Monday to Friday. In Juarez they don't show Alma De Hierro or the News in HD. They also don't show any of the Football games in HDTV.

Greenland

Subscription based digital terrestrial television is currently available in the capital Nuuk (Godthab) through Nuuk TV's Nuuk Digital [http://www.nuuktv.gl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=26&lang=da_dk] . In addition to the Greenlandic and Danish public service broadcasters Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa, Nuuk TV, and Danmarks Radio, the service offers additional channels from Canal + and American and European cable networks (typically subtitled in Danish). As Nuuk Digital is a premium service, and DVB-T broadcasts are not presently available in other settlements, the service continues to run alongside analogue terrestrial broadcasts from KNR, DR, and Nuuk TV. The government of Greenland has no plans or timetable for an analogue switch-off at the present time.Fact|date=August 2008

El Salvador

Guatemala

Honduras

United States

The United States has adopted ATSC standards for digital terrestrial broadcasts and digital cable services. These standards include standard definition, enhanced definition, and high definition formats. On May 8, 2008, the Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin announced that the agency will test run the transition to digital television in Wilmington, North Carolina beginning September 8, 2008. This is in order to work out any kinks which may not be foreseen before most of the country's broadcasters stop transmitting traditional analog signals and upgrade to digital-only programming. Full-power terrestrial broadcasts using the analogue NTSC standard will be required by law to cease by February 17, 2009. [47 USC 309(j)(14)(A) [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/casecode/uscodes/47/chapters/5/subchapters/iii/parts/i/sections/section_309.html] as amended by section 3002 of S.1932 signed into law February 8, 2006.] Some television sets will continue to use analog NTSC tuners if connected to an analogue cable system, or a converter box (which may receive digital signals over the air, from a cable system, or from a satellite system). Low-power broadcasts, as well as some Canadian or Mexican border signals, may remain available in analogue form to some US viewers after the shutdown of US-based full-power NTSC broadcasts.

outh America

Argentina

Argentina selected the ATSC standard in 1998 (Res.2387/98), and has been conducting experimental broadcasts since 1999 but the government later overruled the decision. The current government in Argentina appears to be reconsidering its earlier decision. ATSC and DVB-T are apparently both discarded, and there is a confirmed interest in ISDB-T standard, with a 90% chance of this being adopted, as affirmed recently by the government [cite web |url=http://www.minplan.gov.ar/minplan/prensa/destacadas.php?fech=2008-09-15#noticia621 |title=Argentina |accessdate=2008-09-29] . While HDTV-ready TV sales are increasing in Argentina, no single HD feed is currently available. Major TV broadcasters, namely Canal 13 and Telefe, started to show some HDTV samples in electronic shows. Due to lack of clear directives, consumer electronic market offers LCD and Plasma equipment without digital tuners, only NTSC/PAL analog ones are included as of May 2007.

Brazil

The SBTVD standard (based on ISDB-T) was adopted and launched in 2 November 2007. In 2007, only the greater São Paulo metropolitan area could receive the signal. Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro began to receive free-to-air digital signal in April 7 and April 8, 2008, respectively [ [http://info.abril.com.br/aberto/infonews/042008/07042008-19.shl INFO Online - Rede TV! estréia sinal digital no Rio e BH - (07/04/2008). ] ] . In August 4 2008, Goiânia began to receive DTV signal. The government estimated 7 years for complete signal expansion over all of the territory. Analog television is set to be shut down in 2016, but it can be delayed if needed.

The interactive platform called Ginga [ [http://www.ginga.org.br/ Middleware Ginga - TV Interativa se faz com Ginga! ] ] consists entirely of free software and received high publicity for being considered the main appeal for the change. The government promised WiMax as return channel for the system, set to be implemented in the following years. [ [http://www.cpqd.com.br/site/ContentView.php?cd=3967 CPqD - WiMAX poderá ser o canal de retorno da TV digital. Testes começam em setembro ] ]

All 5 major TV networks (Band, Rede Globo, Rede Record, RedeTV! and SBT) broadcast in HDTV signal (1080i), SDTV 480i and 1seg as well.

Chile

HDTV-ready TVs are available in Chile. TVN has made HDTV tests in 1999, Canal 13 is now broadcasting, in Santiago only, a test transmission in the three HDTV formats (ATSC, DVB and ISDB). In Valparaiso, UCV is making ATSC broadcast tests for the Valparaiso area, and Canal 13 also has made tests in DVB format in April 2007 for the Valparaiso area. After rescheduling the date for a final decision on DTV formats several times, [cite web |url=http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyid=2007-12-24T182148Z_01_N24318509_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHILE-DIGITALTV.xml |title=Chile puts off digital television decision to March (Reuters) |accessdate=2007-12-27] Chile has stopped offering dates for such an announcement. [cite web|url=http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/05/31/brazil-defends-isdb-t-choice |title=Brazil defends its digital TV choice, roll-out (The Inquirer) |accessdate=2008-06-18]

Colombia

On August 28, 2008 Colombia has adopted the European digital terrestrial television standard, DVB-T. [cite web
url=http://www.portafolio.com.co/economia/economiahoy/2008-08-28/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_PORTA-4470425.html
title=CNTV chooses European Standard for Colombia's DTTV|accessdate=2008-08-28]

Señal Colombia —Colombia's state-owned channel— has made digital terrestrial television broadcast tests since 2006, in northwest Bogota and downtown Cartagena, transmitting into the three DTV formats ATSC, DVB-T and ISDB-T. Also the Chinesse standard DMB-T/H, was considered, but couldn't be tested.

HDTV-ready television sets (DVB-T) were available in Colombia since 2003, but cable and satellite television companies haven't transmit HD content to its subcribers.

Uruguay

On August 27, 2007, the Uruguayan government issued a decree stating that the DVB-T and DVB-H standards will be adopted. [cite web |url=http://www.presidencia.gub.uy/_web/decretos/2007/08/IE454_28%2005%202007_00001.PDF |title=Uruguay |accessdate=2007-11-30] While HDTV-ready TV sets are available at the country, a few factors seem to constrain the development of the new technology in the near term:
* Prices for LCD, Plasma and DLP-based TV sets can be two times more expensive in Uruguay than in the region, or four times more expensive than in the US, while wages are also lower than in the region. Some DLP-based displays can cost up to US$7000 in Uruguay as of 2006. There have been few examples, if any, of CRT-based HDTV sets.
* The cable industry has few incentives to provide other services beyond basic TV services: Internet-by-cable and cable telephony have been either strictly prohibited by law (Antel, the local telco company owned by the government and with a strong union, enjoys a monopoly on basic telephony services and land lines) or thwarted by high taxes on equipment that make a business case for newer technologies unfeasible. Digital Cable has started rolling out, with an initial 100% increase of monthly cost for the SD digital service. High prices for HDTV sets do not help. Some of the cable companies for the largest markets are also owned by the largest local TV content providers, which as of 2006 have not started broadcasting any HDTV content since there has not been an approval of which standard is to be used by the government.
* DirecTV might be in a better position to provide HDTV content, given that they have experience and content from the US and given that they serve the whole continent. But DirecTV's policy in Uruguay has been that of providing "leftover" equipment from Argentina to its customers in Uruguay (i.e., first-generation RCA receivers), which as of now do not support HDTV content or Dolby AC-3 Sound.
* Uruguay hoped for neighboring countries reaching an agreement on an HDTV standard, but so far that does not seem to be the case. Brazil has adopted the ISDB system, while Argentina and Uruguay have historically used TV systems based on a European standard (PAL-N 625/50 Hz). Now Argentina seems to be settling on the ATSC standard, and Uruguayan URSEC authorities have provided no information on which road they will go. On August 27th, 2007, Ursec settled on DVB-T and DVB-H. The TV sets being sold in Uruguay seem to be closer to ATSC HDTV-based standards (60 Hz systems, with ATSC tuners in some cases). Most of the DVD-based content in the country is NTSC/60 Hz-based, while the TV standard in use is PAL/50 Hz-based. Most of the analog TV sets sold are PAL-N, PAL-M and NTSC capable, while most DVD players are multiregion. Authorities are not asking retailers to identify which standard the HDTV sets sold adhere to.

References

* [http://www.protv.ro/stiri/divertisment/pro-tv-singurul-post-din-europa-de-est-care-transmite-in-format.html]

External links

HDTV

* [http://www.hdtv.net/stations.htm List of Network HDTV affiliates (as of May 1, 1999; way behind the times)]
* [http://www.milwaukeeHDTV.org MilwaukeeHDTV]

Brazil

* [http://sbtvd.cpqd.com.br/ SBTVD Development in Brazil]

Canada

* [http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2002/pb2002-31.htm CRTC Public Notice]

Colombia

* [http://www.cntv.org.co/ CNTV Official government site about digital terrestial television in Colombia]

Israel

* [http://www.godigital.co.il GoDigital Israel - Digital Terrestrial News from Israel]

Mexico

* [http://www.cft.gob.mx/wb/COFETEL/COFE_Periodos_de_Transicion_a_la_TDT Mexican FCC Plan for DTT]
* [http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=878152 Mexican HDTV]

Uruguay

* [http://www.ursec.gub.uy/ Regulatory agency of radio spectrum in Uruguay]
* [http://www.dvb.org/news_events/news/uruguay_adopts_dvbt_and_d/index.xml DVB.org announcement on Uruguay's decision]

Japan

* [http://www.dibeg.org DiBEG - Digital Broadcasting Experts Group]

Regulators and organisations

* [http://www.soumu.go.jp/joho_tsusin/eng/index.html Government]
* [http://www.arib.or.jp/english/ ARIB]
* [http://www.catv.or.jp/english/jctea-e050112.htm JCTEA]
* [http://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/index-e.html NHK STRL]

Domestic promotion

* [http://www.d-pa.org/english/index.html D-pa]
* [http://www.bpa.or.jp/index.html BPA(Japanese)]

Industrial

* [http://www.jeita.or.jp/ JEITA]

atellite

* [http://www.b-sat.co.jp/english/contents.html B-SAT]
* [http://www.jsat.net/en/index.html JSAT]

Conditional acesss

* [http://www.b-cas.co.jp/ B-CAS(Japanese)]

Broadcasters and DTV Channel operators

* [http://www.nhk.or.jp/index-e.html NHK]
* [http://www.ntv.co.jp/english/pc/index.html NTV]
* [http://www.tbs.co.jp/eng/top.html TBS]
* [http://www.fujitv.co.jp/en/index2.html Fuji TV]
* [http://company.tv-asahi.co.jp/e/index.html TV Asahi]
* [http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/corporation/ TV Tokyo]
* [http://www.mxtv.co.jp/company/english.html MX TV]
* [http://www.skyperfectv.co.jp/en/ SKY PerfecTV!]
* [http://www.wowow.co.jp/english/index.html WOWOW]
* [http://www.star-ch.co.jp/pc/star?KEY=&PID=22825&mode=e_top STAR CHANNEL]
* [http://www.mobaho.com/english/index.html MobaHO!]