Uruguay. The government of Uruguay, headed by its president José Mujica, announced a couple of weeks ago that the goal of the analog blackout for the country was set in 2015, the year in which the digital television process must be completed under the Japanese Brazilian model ISDB T.
But there are many who have spoken out about the fulfillment of this goal, because the time is very short, half in many cases of other countries in the region.
It should be remembered that in 2007 Uruguay chose the European model of digital television DVB T, but three years later, at the end of 2010, it decided to change its model again and adopt the Japanese Brazilian, in what the government considered as a political measure rather than a technical one.
This means that the work that had been advanced in the field of digital television was lost and last year had to start the process from scratch with the new model.
That is why many have said that five years to conclude the process is a very short time, despite the announcement of President José Mujica to begin tests in the next twelve months.
One institution that has expressed disagreement with the date was the National Association of Uruguayan Broadcaster, ANDEBU. Its managers consider that the deadline for the analog blackout is insufficient. Criticism also points to whether users will be prepared to receive the signal with changing their TVs or buying encoders.
We will have to wait if the Uruguayan government can meet its goal, which if it does, would be one of the first countries in the region to achieve the blackout, on par with Mexico that has as its goal the same year.
