Broadcast Australia guides Thailand's DTV switchover

In support of Thailand’s digital TV (DTV) switchover plans, leading broadcast transmission services provider, Broadcast Australia, delivered a series of informative presentations at the recent ‘Transition to Digital Television’ seminar in Bangkok. Organised by Thailand’s government-run Public Relations Department, the seminar provided some of the country’s key broadcast industry stakeholders with valuable insight into DTV network planning, design and implementation.

Broadcast Australia delivered two presentations–Planning and design for transition to DTV and Implementation considerations for transition to DTV–which outlined issues ranging from DTV network conception and planning, through to deployment and operation. Representatives from the Bangkok Entertainment Co. (Channel 3), Royal Thai Army (Channel 5), Bangkok Broadcasting (Channel 7), MCOT public Co. (Channel 9) and TiTV were just some of the attendees on hand to leverage Broadcast Australia’s extensive DTV experience.

According to Broadcast Australia Managing Director International Business, Chris Jaeger, Thailand’s broadcast industry is currently in ‘planning mode’. “With Thailand’s involvement in the ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) agreements on DTV, and the targeted 2015 analogue TV switch-off date fast approaching, the country’s broadcasters are looking for ways to streamline the migration from analogue to digital,” he said. “The ‘Transition to Digital Television’ seminar provided Thailand’s broadcasters with a rare insight into what is required to successfully plan, implement and operate a DTV broadcast network.”

It has been decided that Thailand’s fixed terrestrial DTV network will be based on the digital video broadcasting – terrestrial (DVB-T) standard. “Broadcast Australia has designed and built over 450 DVB-T services over the past 7 years,” said Jaeger. “The seminar provided local broadcasters with access to information based on our extensive portfolio of DVB-T projects.”

Broadcast Australia’s presentations also focussed on future-proofing digital broadcast networks. “We felt it was important to highlight the benefits of sharing common broadcast infrastructure and providing network flexibility for future expansion–especially with the emergence of mobile TV,” said Jaeger. “Modern DTV networks such as those to be established in Thailand will almost certainly be able to accommodate broadcast mobile TV services.”