Romania is prepared to allocate around €146 million in subsidies to ensure the transition to digital broadcasting passes off smoothly.
According to ZF, the money would given to the 1.4 million households still receiving analogue terrestrial TV signals by 2012 to buy MPEG-4 set-top boxes, typically retailing for €90.
An estimated 900,000 of these households would be in rural areas.
Given that the majority of Romanian homes already receive cable (49%) or DTH services (27%) – 6% have no access to TV – the recipients of the subsidies would be from the more disadvantaged sections of society.
Romania aims to complete the transition to digital broadcasting in 2012.
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