16 March 2004

(Press Release - Radio Television Brunei) ASEAN DIGITAL BROADCASTING MEETNG was held in Brunei on 15 and 16 March 2004 .  It was co-organized by Radio Television Brunei and MediaCorp of Singapore supported by Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) of Brunei Darussalam and the Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore .

The general thrust of the meeting was to share the latest knowledge on technologies and applications relating to Digital Television Terrestrial Broadcasting (DTTB).  The DTTB is the next evolution of TV broadcasting after analogue which promises more channel programmes, interactive capabilities and mobile services.  The current analogue TV sets can still be used to receive DTTB using Set Top Boxes (STBs), besides purchasing new digital DTTB receivers.

Set Top Box (STB) is the “Black Box” that will receive the digital transmission and can be put into the current receivers.  From experience of countries already pioneering DTTB, one of the critical success factors is the availability and affordability of STBs.  The meeting brought ASEAN broadcasters, regulators and manufacturers together to formulate a proposal on a common minimum technical specifications for STBs for the ASEAN market.

The meeting was attended by more than 70 delegates from 7 ASEAN countries namely Malaysia , Indonesia , Singapore , Thailand , Myanmar , Vietnam and Brunei Darussalam as well as speakers from Asia-Pacific , Australia and Europe .  Manufacturers/vendors of related DTTB industries also turned up in numbers. It was agreed to have a series of meetings and the second will be held in Singapore on 14 June 2004.