CEBU, Philippines — Out with the old, in with the new.
With roughly 80 percent of the Filipino population still using analog TV, the Department of Information Communications and Technology (DICT) is encouraging the public to switch to digital technology which can enable a more efficient public service broadcasting system.
During the Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) Regional Information Session held at Mezzo Hotel last Wednesday, stakeholders from the academe and the appliance industry along with the government convened to discuss the possibilities on how they can use the TV sets present in almost every household to make public service more efficient.
“We rely on TV as the primary source of information, our entertainment, and knowledge. Neither of us realized that our lives have been changed thanks to digital TV broadcasting. It is my hope that Cebuanos will find the digital TV broadcast movement exciting to be able to collaborate together with many projects,” said Engr. Edilberto Baqueros of DICT Central Office in his opening remarks.
Created under Republic Act (RA) 10844 on May 23, 2016, the DICT not only aims to ensure universal access to quality, affordable and reliable ICT services, but also to promote the application of ICT to improve public service delivery in every available field possible.
The Digital TV Awareness Reach-out is geared towards discussing the DTTB Migration Plan that will facilitate a smooth migration through public communication strategies and intends to update key stakeholders as to why this transition is necessary for the country.
“This means much better signal quality, more channels, better sound and a clearer picture. We can take opportunity of the Early Warning Broadcast System (EWBS). We are currently doing a test on broadcast for the digital with 2 main channels. We will continue to roll out digital systems throughout the country,” said Dino Apolonio, General Manager of People’s TV Network (PTV).
Aside from the high-quality content that digital TVs can offer to viewers, another feature also known as data broadcasting as strings of relevant information such as weather updates and traffic data can be found at the side of the program. It is also easy to switch to digital by simply purchasing a set-top-box for analog TV users, which is easier than buying a digital TV.
The DTTB Migration Plan adopts the Integrated Services Digital Broadcast- Terrestrial (ISDB-T) from Japan which is their standard for digital television (DTV) and digital radio used by the country's radio and television network since December 2003. Since then, many countries have adopted ISDB over other digital broadcasting standards.
The ISDB-T standard not only covers multiple platforms (e.g. in-house and portable TVs, cellphone), but is also a convergence of broadcast communications and IT that uses radio frequency (RF) propagation using transmission and reception-based technology.
Section 3 of the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) Memorandum Circular (MC) 02-03-2016 requires the proper labeling of TV sets and set-top-boxes indicating that these appliances are EWBS capable and with Broadcast Markup Language as middleware for datacasting capability, among others.
“The framework of the DTTB Migration Plan consists of many parts, but its main components are the analog switch off (ASO) in 4 to 6 years, conducting trainings and workshops, as well as standards compliance monitoring and assessment,” remarked Engr. George Tardio, Chief of the National ICT Planning Division of DICT.
However, Tardio identified several issues that the DTTB Migration Plan might face during the implementation stage such as technical standards, regulatory framework, frequency spectrum assignment, plan for the ASO strategies and new broadcast services, and advocacy planning and consumer participation with various stakeholders.
But in the long run, it won’t only be beneficial to consumers, but also towards broadcasters when as they widen their program and service offerings and to the government in using frequency spectrum to enhance their delivery of public information dissemination.
“The conduct of evaluation is necessary to appropriately address identified implementation issues and to assess the overall progress and DTTB migration in the Philippines,” expressed Tardio in his speech.
Communication Strategies
To allow the public to understand the essence of the DTTB Migration Plan better, communication strategies and tools are being formed by the DICT for TV viewers to better appreciate the benefits this change will bring to their lives.
ICT Planning Officer Benjz Gerard Sevilla explained that the communication strategies involve 5 steps: viewers’ awareness of DTTB, the viewers’ understanding of its causes and effects, attitudes, intentions to convert and finally, conversion.
“Aside from the given communication strategy, we also have 8 communication tools namely: the website, our official mascot, roadshows, logo and labelling, support centers, broadcast advisories, social media and print matter,” added Sevilla.
The mascot for the DTTB Migration Plan is none other than the Philippine Tarsier most commonly found in the island of Bohol which serves as the perfect representation of the ISDB-T standards as they also have audible calls which can be attributed to the effect of the EWBS.
“One of its loud calls is like a piercing single note. The second sound is soft, sweet, bird-like twill, a sound of contentment. The third is when several tarsiers come together they produce a locust-like sound from the combined effect of the chirpings. These tiered tones signaling characteristics the different audio warnings to be implemented as part of the EWBS.” according to the DICT. (FREEMAN)