The project will cost $40 million and will be tendered after approval of a law which establishes the rate to be paid by the users of the involved communications services.
Bill 423 states that users of fixed and mobile telephony, pay view television and internet services will have to pay between 1% and 2% in their monthly bills once the investment plan starts, reported Prensa.com.
With the signing of two regulatory decrees, President Chinchilla has began the process of transition from analogue to digital television.
One of the decrees establishes a Joint Commission which will propose trade mechanisms and processes, standards and policies in the technical, economic and social areas, during the transition from analog television services to digital ones, as well as monitoring compliance with its recommendations.
The implementation of a digital system will cost $272 million, and will generate new business opportunities.
New screens, decoders and other devices are part of the products consumers would need to purchase as part of the process of transition from analog to digital television.
The Vice Ministry of Telecommunications has estimated that a $272 million investment would need to be made over a period of 6 years in order to implement the new system.
Brazil wants both countries to use the Digital TV system it has developed along with Japan.
The advisor to the Ministry of Telecommunications of Brazil, Flavio Lenz, during his participation at a seminar in the city of Quito, said that Brazilian-Japanese ISDB-T (Integrated Services Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting), is "best suited for developing countries."
In September authorities will start the program to implementation Digital Terrestrial Television using Europe's DVB-T format.
The National Authority of Public Services (ASEP) indicated that the implementation will include technical guidelines and regulations for radio and digital TV.
"To date, commercial TV channels are using channels 41, 42, 45 and 49 as digital test signals to replace analog," reported an article in Prensa.com.
With the approval of the "Act of Implementation of Digital Television”, the government will announce by the end of the year the transition of technologies.
The Minister of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications, Teofilo de la Torre said that in 2017 the transition of technologies would take place and with this the end of analog television.
The act approved "offers recommendations for management and use of the radio spectrum and guidelines which seek to promote the creation of national and interactive contents (one of the possibilities offered by digital signal). It provides a basic outline of a solidarity plan (subsidies to purchase TVs or decoders) to facilitate technology transition for all households and institutions in the country," the article at Elfinancierocr.com informed.
Approximately 13 million US television viewers are expected to watch the reality show "Survivor Nicaragua", raising the country's profile like never before.
Javier Chamorro, executive director of the institution in charge of promoting investment in Nicaragua (ProNicaragua), played a crucial part in bringing "Survivor" to the country.
Tim Rogers, writing for Global Post, reports that Chamorro commented: “The country does not have enough budget for promotion and marketing to reach an audience of this magnitude. Therefore, the filming of 'Survivor' in Nicaragua constitutes a huge opportunity for us". According to the article the country's annual budget for promoting the country is just $2 million.
The country is negotiating the use of new Brazilian technology for digital television broadcasts.
Orlando Castillo, director of Nicaragua's Telecommunications and Postal Regulator (Telcor), stated that the reason for using the Brazilian-Japanese developed technology is its greater coverage capacity and additional functionality.
El Nuevo Diario reports that, "the negotiations with Brazil include the possibility of offering Nicaraguans a low cost digital TV conversion box and Castillo added that, 'he is hopeful of a positive outcome' for this agenda item".
Cable & Wireless Panama acquired the company Cable Hogar, which served the province of Coclé.
The purchase of Cable Hogar comes shortly after another acquisition by C&W: Cable Unión, which provided cable services in Tocumen, Cerro Viento and Las Mañanitas.
“Roberto Mendoza, executive director of Cable & Wireless Panama, stated that by March they had 12.600 cable subscribers, after operating in this segment since December 2009”, reported Prensa.com.
Dar TV, the first Spanish Cinema channel in Latin America, will open its administrative offices in Guatemala.
The channel will now have its administrative office in Guatemala, its technical agency in Miami and its operative center in Madrid.
Newspaper El Periódico interviewed Manuel Gómez Roman, Dar TV president: “¿How many homes could the channel reach initially? – We are committed to reaching 50 million homes or 200 million viewers”.
Online media continues to gain ground on traditional media, by combining and offering a single product featuring the best of both.
The television industry understands that audiences are shifting towards the web as their main information source, not only at the expense of print media, but also of television.
Their strategy is also clear: they are joining the enemy, in order to reach their audiences also through the web.
Company Cable Onda launched a project to turn its signal to digital in the entire country.
Manuel García Villareal, marketing manager, commented that the project will require a year and a half to be ready. It will start in Panama City, expanding from there to the rest of the country.
“They are also betting on new services and opportunities such as ‘video on demand’.
Amino will provide 38.000 set-top boxes to support ICE’s IPTV rollout.
The network operator plans to launch services in the first half of 2010, targeting up to 100,000 homes across the country. Amino will work closely with systems integrator ITS on the service rollout and will provide 38,000 units including its A125, A130M and A530 DVR (digital video recorder) STBs phased over the next two years.
Representatives from the different Digital TV standards are in the country, explaining the benefits of their technologies.
On March 30th, a public-private Digital TV commission will have to deliver a recommendation to the Executive indicating which standard should be adopted by the country.
"The commission spent two hours listening to Julián Seseña, representative of the European Standard DVB-T", reported Nacion.com.