NBTC: "Viewers will not need new TV sets for digital system"

BANGKOK, 18 January 2013 (NNT) – The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has come out to calm nationwide viewers, who have been anxious about the country’s changeover from analog to digital television.

NBTC vice chairman Natee Sukonrat said on Thursday that the country’s transition from analog to digital broadcast system will start with the bidding process to find providers of the business channels. After that the NBTC will move on to the allocation of public program and community service channels.

All of this is scheduled to be completed before the end of this year, according to the NBTC vice chairman.

Mr. Natee stated that the transition will offer Thailand a total of 48 digital TV channels. He added that the analog system will still be functional until the transition is accomplished.

He went on to say that viewers will not have to acquire new TV sets to accommodate the digital broadcast as their existing units will be able to work with the new system through inexpensive set-top boxes.

-- NNT 2013-01-18

True, the Australian governmnet in yet another brilliant economic move provided those boxes free to pensioners and paid double what was available in the shops. Seems Australia has more in common with Thailand than I thought.

So it'll all be done before the end of the year. That's super - it took 3 years and a staggered roll-out to achieve that in the UK. It just shows that with a world class intellect and unparalleled motivation Thailand can knock the socks of countries that are considered more developed.

....... [in their dreams ]

so the headline is wrong - you will need extra equipment (set top box) to view the digital transmissions, what about people who already own modern TV's with built in digital tuners, I hope the system they adopt is fully compatable

True, the Australian governmnet in yet another brilliant economic move provided those boxes free to pensioners and paid double what was available in the shops. Seems Australia has more in common with Thailand than I thought.

I believe the US gave them for free to everyone (unlike healthcare) but you had to send away for a coupon or send in a receipt or something. I think they were kind of forced to do this because they forced broadcasters to go Digital to free up the old frequencies. I think most of the cable companies still broadcast in both analog and digital.

I note another bidding process, once again they are planning to sell something they dont own.

What with 3G then 4G and so on they just could rake in enough to keep buying rice.

And who makes and gets the profit from these boxes we all must buy?

I note another bidding process, once again they are planning to sell something they dont own.

What with 3G then 4G and so on they just could rake in enough to keep buying rice.

And who makes and gets the profit from these boxes we all must buy?

Shindig perhaps?

so the headline is wrong - you will need extra equipment (set top box) to view the digital transmissions, what about people who already own modern TV's with built in digital tuners, I hope the system they adopt is fully compatable

The headline says you don't need a new TV set, which is correct.

True, the Australian governmnet in yet another brilliant economic move provided those boxes free to pensioners and paid double what was available in the shops. Seems Australia has more in common with Thailand than I thought.

I believe the US gave them for free to everyone (unlike healthcare) but you had to send away for a coupon or send in a receipt or something. I think they were kind of forced to do this because they forced broadcasters to go Digital to free up the old frequencies. I think most of the cable companies still broadcast in both analog and digital.

Re the U.S., a lot of people had modern TVs that had included digital tuners already, thus nothing extra was required.

As best as I recall, it was a relatively small minority of folks who needed to apply for the external digital tuner boxes because they had very old, non-digital TVs. But yes, at that time, there were vouchers and discount coupons issued by the government and through retailers for people who needed them to acquire the digital tuner boxes.