TV broadcasts in Baku to be digitized by year-end
By Nigar Orujova
Analogue television broadcasting in Baku will be fully converted into digital format by the year-end, the Teleradio production association said on June 28.
According to Teleradio's plans, disconnection of the analogue signal will be carried out in phases, starting with the Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Shirvan and Lankaran.
Currently, the association is working on installing back-up DVB-T transmitters and alternative radio relaying links to provide 100 percent coverage of the country's population with the digital signal. Works in the southern areas as well as in the Central Aran regions and Gazakh region are complete.
After the installation of the back-up transmitters is completed, broadcasting via the analogue signal will be gradually halted.
According to the association's forecasts, if the work proceeds as scheduled, the process of halting the analogue signal will start by the year-end.
Currently, population of the Azerbaijani regions has access to the 12-channel social package. The number of TV channels available in Baku is 24. Broadcasting of the digital content is in the MPEG-4 format. Subscribers must purchase a decoder to make a transition to digital broadcasts.
Azerbaijan was the first CIS country to implement a transition to digital broadcasting.
Earlier in June, the association said Azerbaijani package broadcasting through Turkey's satellite Turksat 3A will be suspended from July 1.
Currently, seven Azerbaijani TV and radio broadcasters - AzTV, Idman (Sports) Azerbaycan, Medeniyyet (Culture), Ictimai (Public TV), ATV İnt., Xezer, and Azad Azərbaycan (Free Azerbaijan) are allocated the resources of the first Azerbaijani telecommunication satellite Azerspace/Africasat-1a, which was launched into space on February 8.
These channels will be available at the 11169.15 MHz, H, S/R-20400 Mb/s frequency from July.
Azerspace will offer many advantages to the local TV and radio companies, as well as acceptable conditions for transmission. Special data compression technology will allow TV and radio companies to reduce usage of the satellite's resources and organize packet transmission of the highest quality. The main factor of quality will be the high level of signal transmission in the satellite's coverage area.
North African telecommunication operators started using resources of the satellite in May and the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) broadcasters may air their programs through Azerspace-1 as well.
The satellite was designed to offer digital broadcasting services, Internet access and data transmission, to create multiservice VSAT networks and provide for governmental communication.