Regulator sets hearing on digital TV standard

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has set a public hearing to discuss the adoption of a standard for the planned shift to digital television.

The hearing will be held on Oct. 29 at the NTC building in Quezon City, the commission on Friday said in a statement.

The hearing was set shortly after President Aquino announced that the country could adopt Japan’s standard for digital television.

The President discussed the matter with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the 23rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

“The hearing aims to reconfirm with industry stakeholders the technical working group’s recommendation to adopt the Japanese Digital Terrestrial Television standard as the Philippines’ digital TV standard,” the NTC said in its statement.

There are currently two standards competing for the government’s approval: the Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting platform from Japan and the second generation Digital Video Broadcasting standard from Europe.

The Japanese standard is said to be cheaper to implement.

It was reported earlier that the shift to digital TV may be completed before President Aquino steps down in 2016.