Russia has ruled out the possibility of running DVB-T and DVB-T2 broadcasts in parallel except in Moscow.
In a wide-ranging interview with Kommersant, Andrei Romanchenko, the DG of Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRS), said that such transmission were only possible in the capital as it had additional frequencies.
Romanchenko brushed off complaints about there being hardly any DVB-T2 receivers for sale in Kazan, Moscow and St Petersburg and from the Association of Developers and Manufacturers of Broadcast Equipment (Arpat) that Samsung was still only supplying old sets for the Russian market.
In the latter case, he added that Samsung had signed an agreement to manufacture DVB-T2 sets and that they would soon be on the market.
General Satellite is the first company to make DVB-T2 reception equipment available and Philips has also just made some available.
Romanchenko also dismissed concerns by Russia’s cable industry about the possible launch of pay DTT services and said hoped a tender for the second multiplex would take place this summer.