DUSHANBE, March 27, 2013, Asia-Plus — A two-day conference formally titled “Transparency and Realities of Transition to Digital Broadcasting in Tajikistan” has kicked off in Dushanbe today.
Organized in the framework of the “Providing Transparency of Transition of Tajikistan’s Independent Electronic Media to Digital Broadcasting” Project under financial support of the Media Program of the Tajik Branch of Open Society Institute/Assistance Foundation (OSI/AF-Tajikistan), the conference has reportedly brought together representatives from Tajiktelecom (state-run regulatory agency), state-run and independent broadcasters and media experts.
According to the Association of Audio and Video Producers of Tajikistan (Association), Tajikistan along with other members of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 2006 signed an agreement on transition to digital broadcasting in 2015
We will recall that the Geneva 2006 Agreement sets June 17, 2015 as the date after which countries may use those frequencies currently assigned for analogue television transmission for digital services, without being required to protect the analogue services of neighboring countries against interference. This date is generally viewed as an internationally mandated analogue switch-off date, at least along national borders.
A working group is expected to be set up for development of recommendations on improvement of the process of transition to the digital broadcasting in Tajikistan.
The Association notes that the Tajik Government has adopted the concept of national TV and radio-broadcasting policy designed for 2010-2015 and the national digital television development program for 2010-2015. But these documents have been worked out without participation of civil society and private electronic media of the country.
Local experts consider that transition to the digital broadcasting in such a format puts existence of independent electronic media in the country under threat. Neither concept nor the program contains information about ways, conditions and the process of transition of independent electronic media to the digital broadcasting, the Association says.
The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover or analogue switch-off, is the process in which analog television broadcasting is converted to and replaced by digital television. This primarily involves the conversion of analogue terrestrial television to digital terrestrial. However, it also involves analogue cable conversion to digital cable, as well as analogue to digital satellite.
