Broadcasters in the 10 Asean countries have agreed to adopt the DVB-T standard. The decision was taken at the 4th Asean Digital Broadcasting (ADB) meeting held in Kuala Lumpur, ahead of the conference of the Asean Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI), scheduled to take place in May.
A statement released on behalf of the 50 delegates attending the conference pointed to the benefits to the consumer of a single digital standard in bringing down costs. “The harmonisation of this standard will make this region attractive for the development of digital content which may be viewed across Asean. This would further strengthen regional cooperation and technical assistance programmes on common equipment standards, exchange and creation of digital TV programmes, as well as regulatory policies.”
The countries concerned are Brunei, Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The conference also discussed a timetable for digital switchover.
Malaysia has already announced its commitment to the DVB standard.