Analogue TV signal to be switched off in four major cities on August 15

Analogue TV signals will be completely turned off from August 15 in the four centrally governed cities of Hanoi, Hai Phong, Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh City as Vietnam is gradually moving to digital television.

Analogue TV signal to be switched off in four major cities on August 15.

The move follows the switch-off in Da Nang, which has been in effect since November 1 last year.

Under a government plan on digital conversion, analogue TV transmissions in all of the above five cities should have been ended by December 2015, but the deadline was extended due to technical difficulties and support for poor households to buy set-top boxes.

Finally, only Da Nang was chosen to implement the plan while the other cities would have more time for preparations until August 15 this year.

According to the Steering Committee on TV Digitalisation, viewers can watch up to 70 digital channels free of charge, with six channels of national broadcaster VTV transmitted in high-definition resolution.

Viewers in Hanoi and Hai Phong can watch 45 standard-definition (SD) channels while those in Can Tho and HCMC can tune in to up to 65 SD channels.

Vietnam has plans for a full switch-off of analogue television by the end the year, but it is highly unlikely that such deadline will be met.

The extended date will be determined after results of the switch-off in five major cities are in.

(Source: NDO)