Ukraine intends to provide one million subsidised set-top boxes to the more needy members of its population as the country moves digitisation.
According to ProIT, the draft budget for 2012 has allocated UAH350 million (€32 million) to improve the reception of digital TV services, with a further UAH175 million likely to be assigned in 2013.
Zeonbud, which will be the operator of the country’s first four DTT multiplexes, meanwhile estimates that it will cost UAH350 million to provide one million subsidised set-top boxes.
The government plans to hold a tender to supply the boxes, which will have to be able to receive HD services, and expects to pay UAH350 each for between 700,000 and one million receivers.
There are at present around 10 million homes in Ukraine that watch terrestrial TV, of which some 1.5 million are on low incomes.
