Indonesia Switches to Digital TV Starting This End of April

TheIndonesia.co - The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information seeks to fulfill the need for set top box equipment for digital terrestrial television broadcasts at all-analog switch-off (ASO) stages. This April 30, 2022, the first phase of the migration to digital TV begins.

"We are currently looking for a way out," said Minister of Communication and Information Johnny G. Plate, met by Antara in Depok, West Java, Wednesday, March 16, 2022.

The government and multiplexing providers are currently distributing set top box (STB) devices to people who meet the requirements. Based on the Social Welfare Integrated Data, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the government estimates that the need for set top boxes for poor households is 6,737,971 units.

The set top box to be distributed to the public is provided by the multiplexing operator, while Kominfo will cover the shortage of the unit. Following the 2022 State Revenue and Expenditure Budget, Kominfo has prepared 1 million units of set top boxes. Meanwhile, the total number of set top boxes from multiplexing providers was 4,177,760.

In January last year, Kominfo stated that the need for set top box equipment for the first phase of analog switch-off, totaling 3,203,854 units for 166 regencies and cities, had been fulfilled. For the second and third stages of ASO, the need for set top boxes has not been fulfilled.

For the second phase, only 2,011,941 are available out of a total need of 2,165,890 units for 110 regencies and cities. Phase II of ASO still requires 153,949 set top boxes for 14 districts and cities. In the third phase, 1,368,227 units of set top boxes are still needed for 65 regencies and cities.

Minister Johnny during a working meeting with Commission I in mid-January said that the government had proposed the provision of 3 million units of set top boxes, which had been discussed last year. Kominfo proposed this analog switch off using APBN.

Indonesia switched to digital terrestrial television broadcasting starting this year, divided into three stages. ASO phase I takes place on April 30, the second phase on August 25, and the final phase on November 2, 2022.

STB is a digital broadcast receiver that functions to convert and compress digital signals so that they can be received on an analog television.