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Russian govt commission OKs testing DVB-T2 digital TV networks

MOSCOW, Jul 7 (RusTele.com) -- The Russian government commission on the development of TV and radio broadcasting, chaired by the deputy PM Igor Shuvalov, has supported the Communications and Mass Media Ministry’s suggestion to roll out test zones of digital TV networks based on the Digital Video Broadcasting – Second Generation Terrestrial (DVB-T2) standard, the government’s press service said Thursday.

“The DVB-T2 standard allows for increasing the capacity of digital TV networks”, -- the press service said.

DVB-T2 tests got under way in Moscow last month and if the standard is eventually adopted there would be room for more channels, as well as HD and additional services, on both the second and third multiplexes (TV channel packages), with the line up of the first having already been finalised.

According to the Russia's Communications and Mass Media Ministry both second and third sets of channels will be free for the audience. The price of the entry to the multiplexes for the broadcasters is still not determined.

The second multiplex will contain 9 national channels that might include in their programming regional windows of programming. All channels must be networks that broadcast 24 hours a day.

A competition for slots on the second multiplex will be held later this year. Seventeen channels have already announced their intention to bid on the nine available slots.

The Russian government is presently implementing a federal special purpose program, which envisages a gradual switch to digital TV broadcasting from analogue broadcasting across almost the whole of Russia by the end of 2015.