Russia maps out digital strategy

Russia will not subsidise set-top boxes on a federal level in the run up to digitisation, according to Igor Shchegolev, the country’s minister of communications and mass media.

Quoted in CNews, he added that the sale of TVs incapable of receiving digital signals would be banned from this year and that the cost of digitisation in 2011 alone – Russia has fixed its ASO date at 2015 – would amount to nearly R5 billion (€122.8 million), of which over R4 billion would be obtained from the federal budget.

Although Shchegolev was particularly dismissive of set-top box subsidies, it is understood that regional governments in Russia are not so opposed to the idea.

•