Digital TV Coverage Extended to 75 Percent of Population in 18 Districts
With six new transmitting stations coming into service, the coverage of free digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting will be extended to all 18 districts reaching 75 percent of the population this month, enabling more people to view the Beijing Olympic Games on digital TV.
DTT broadcasting was first launched by the two broadcasters at the end of last year through the main transmitting station at Temple Hill, reaching about 50 percent of the population and covering the northern part of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon peninsula, part of Shatin and the eastern part of the Lantau Island.
The launch of DTT has substantially widened the program choice for the TV audience. Apart from watching the programs of the four existing TV channels of the two free-to-air TV broadcasters, Asia Television Ltd. and Television Broadcasts Ltd., in digital format, viewers can now select programs from nine new free DTT program channels in the format of standard definition television (SDTV) or high definition television (HDTV). The broadcasters will also launch Olympic channels during the Games period for viewers to closely follow the event.
The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) has recently enhanced its online database to include new areas covered by DTT signals as well as information on whether the communal aerial broadcast distribution (CABD) system of a particular building has been upgraded.
The Acting Director-General of Telecommunications, Ha Yung-kuen, said that according to responses from building managers and incorporated owners of 10,000 buildings covered in a recent survey, about 63 percent have upgraded or plan to upgrade their CABD system to receive DTT signal by early August.
For more information, please visit the Hong Kong government's dedicated digital TV Web site at www.digitaltv.gov.hk
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