Costa Rican TV to go digital

by Bret G. Dudl
15.11.09
9:00 AM GMT+8

Filed in Costa Rica

By: Adam Williams

Costa Rican television might become a lot clearer in the next few years, as representatives of several communications businesses came together to announce the “Arrival of the Era of Digital Television” at a presentation at the Hotel Marriott in San Antonio de Belen last Thursday.

The forum, which was hosted by the consulting firm Deloitte and the Chamber of Info-Communications, announced that a panel of representatives from several Costa Rican sectors would decide the type of digital television package that would be implemented. The panel will select a digital television (DTV) package and present it before the Executive Branch by March 30, 2010.

The announcement of the “Digital TV” era met some resistance Monday when University of Costa Rica (UCR) Dean Yamileth González advocated for a more open debate about digitalization.

“This should be a public debate that presents a transparent process of digitalization,” González said. “There needs be strong communication of the decision to the people of the country.”

The possible integration of digital television in Costa Rica follows a growing trend worldwide. In the past three years, several countries have integrated digital television nationally, including the United States, which implemented nationwide DTV on June 20, 2009. But after the switch, many homes were unable to watch their televisions because the sets were unequipped to receive the digital signal.

At the presentation Thursday, it was announced that, in order to receive the DTV signal, households must purchase a digital-ready television or a signal converter to wire into their current television.