Colombia. With the contracting of a satellite service, the 2.2 million households that today do not receive the open television signal will soon be able to access it for free, thanks to the approval of a Conpes by the Government.
The director of the National Planning Department, Simón Gaviria, said that the project, with a cost of $70.5 billion, will guarantee coverage to 306 municipalities.
"This is a project that benefits the entire population through DTH (direct-to-home) technology, considered by experts as the best, most competitive and high-definition option to cover the 306 municipalities where the coverage of Radio Televisión de Colombia (RTVC) does not reach," Gaviria added.
To ensure the resources that the initiative demands for 70,500 million pesos over the next 10 years, the National Council for Economic and Social Policy (CONPES) declared the project of strategic importance for the country.
With this approval, the development of social television will be implemented, under the concept of universal service. Gaviria stressed that "the project makes available to users all public channels, both national and regional, without ruling out that others, even international, may be linked to the project through current regulations."
The project includes, among others, the following features:
- Bandwidth for 16 channels in high definition (HD)
- Coverage of 100% of the national territory
- Free service, however, requires purchase of a set-top box by the user.
