Venezuela. A total of 350,000 televisions and 170,000 set-top boxes will be put on sale by the Venezuelan government so that citizens can access the services provided by digital television, which already works in some regions of the country.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Manuel Fernández, was in charge of carrying out the operation and indicated that 50,000 televisions are already in the country and that from next week they will be put on sale directly at the commercial offices of CanTV
The Minister added that the equipment imported to access open digital television will be distributed only in the areas where the service is currently covered, although he did not specify what the cost of each of the equipment will be.
Currently the Venezuelan government is advancing the second phase of installation of transmitters for digital TV. During the first one they installed 13 stations that allowed to have a coverage of 50% of the territory with the digital signal. The second phase will allow to reach 60% of the country.
The Minister reiterated that the Venezuelan government is working to meet the goal of the analog blackout in the television service, established for five years from now. In addition, it seeks to guarantee the population open digital television (TDA), therefore, during the second half of 2013 they expect to deliver 750,000 set-top boxes to people with limited resources.
