DIGITAL FORMAT

This year, all public and private TV channels in Azerbaijan will go digital, covering 90 per cent of the country's territory. At the same time, cable television, which has long been digitized and has adopted the High Definition format, is rapidly developing in the country, gradually covering the regions of Azerbaijan.

Across the country

The digital format has been used in TV broadcasting in Japan and the United States since the 1990s, and in the last decade, almost all European countries have adopted it. According to the recommendations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), most countries must switch to digital completely by 2015.

By the pace of the introduction of digital television technology, our country has been well ahead of the rest of the former Soviet Union for many years, leading the troika of leaders together with Ukraine and Russia. The test trials of digital broadcasting, which began in the Azerbaijani capital in October 2004, made it possible to determine the necessary power of the transmitter, taking into account the terrain, as well as to calculate other parameters. About four years ago, experts of the Teleradio production association started to implement a state programme for the implementation and development of a digital television system in Azerbaijan. Since August 2009, digital broadcasting in Baku and the Abseron peninsula has been carried out on a regular basis.

In the first stage, one free broadcasting package was introduced in the capital: it included programmes of state and several leading private and foreign channels. The broadcasting of up to 10 channels on one frequency was made possible by the use of the MPEG-4 standard, which makes it possible to compress digital audio and video signals. This standard secures more robust transmission of data on the air, which is especially important in large metropolitan areas, where there are high levels of interference. It is noteworthy that MPEG-4 ensures the steady replay of all types of information, i.e. not only audio and video, but also of mixed interactive content. This makes is possible to receive quality broadcasts not only on TV screens, but transfer any type of data through the Internet to computer monitors, tablets, smart phones and other mobile devices.

Two years have passed since digital TV broadcasts were launched in the capital. During this period, Teleradio experts installed digital MPEG-4 transmitters and upgraded equipment at transmitters in Ganca, Sumqayit, Sirvan, Lerik, Lankaran, Agsu, Calilabad, Poylu and the Naxcivan Autonomous Republic. Last autumn a modernized transmitter was installed in Agsu, which provides digital broadcasting in the nine nearby districts.

Also, a new 40-channel base station was installed in Baku, which will help gradually expand the number of television channels. Late last year, residents of Quba, where a new tower and a powerful digital transmitter were installed in order to provide broadcasts in all mountainous districts of northeastern Azerbaijan, started receiving digital channels. At the same time, a digital transmitter was installed in Saki - its capacity is sufficient for reliable signal reception in Mingacevir, Agdas and Yevlax. In December last year, digital TV became available to the population of Qabala, Neftcala, Imisli, Daskasan and Gadabay districts.

Turning point

In any case, digital broadcasts in many of these regions began early last year: in February 2011, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the "Programme for the Development and Use of Digital Television DVB-T in Azerbaijan", under which it was decided to start digital broadcasts in parallel with analogue broadcasts.

"Today, the digital television signal covers over 85 per cent of the population, and as a result, our country will abandon analogue  TV before all its CIS neighbours - approximately in the first half of this year. This turning point in the history of the national television broadcasting will improve the quality of broadcast television," the head of the National Television and Radio Council (NTRC), Nusiravan Maharramli, said recently. According to the NTRC head, digital television will help reduce the number of frequencies and energy costs. Moreover, if today the state television channel AzTV broadcasts in 90-95 per cent of the country and private television channels cover only 70-75 per cent, with the switch to digital TV, all TV channels without exception will be able to broadcast in the territory of Azerbaijan to the same extent.

Thus, by early 2012, almost all leading broadcasters of the country were prepared to switch to the digital standard, and the digitization of equipment is coming to an end at several regional television stations. The switchover was secured largely due to government assistance in retrofitting recording systems and studio and broadcasting equipment at small private and state broadcasters in regions. The installation of MPEG-4 digital transmitters and other equipment at Teleradio transmitters has also been completed. But at the last stage in 2013-2014, the main work will be aimed at installing additional transmitters in remote areas and improving broadcasts in areas where the signal is weak.

The basic broadcasting package, available throughout the country, includes nine nationwide channels today - AzTV, Madaniyyat TV, Idman Azarbaycan TV, ITV, ANS, Lider TV, Space TV, ATV, Xazar TV, as well as the Turkish state channel TRT1. Apart from the main package, the population of regions will get a second broadcasting package with regional channels. In particular, the Kapaz TV, Turkel TV and Alternativ TV channels will be available in the Ganca-Tovuz zone, residents of the Quba-Xacmaz zone, apart from the basic package, will also get the Region TV, Qutb TV and Xayal TV  channels, while Mingacevir TV, KanalS, ElTV and Aygun TV will become available in Mingacevir, Saki, Yevlax and Zaqatala districts. The Canub TV and Dunya TV channels will be an exception - they are not included in the digital packages and will be broadcast separately.

"The switch from analogue to digital television will be gradual, and this year, both digital and analogue TV will be coexistent for at least six months," Maharramli said. This transitional period is assigned to ensure that all segments of the population can buy digital decoders that make it possible to receive digital signals on old analogue TV sets, which still form the basis of the country's television pool. Last year, the NTRC leadership sent a letter to the head of state requesting material assistance for needy families in the purchase of decoders. This issue is already being discussed at the Cabinet of Ministers, and it is possible that such assistance will cover 120,000 low-income families in the country. The average price of imported decoders is now from 30 to 40 manats, but soon these devices will become much cheaper as the production of DBB-T decoders has started at the KUR computer factory. In 2012, decoders will also be produced at the Defence Ministry's PEYK plant. The demand for such products is very high, and our country alone may need 1.5 million digital tuner-decoders, not to mention the possibility of export to former Soviet countries where switchover to digital will also be completed by 2015.

High quality Cable TV

It is noteworthy that cable television, which is rapidly developing in the capital, has long gone digital, and recently, network operators have started entering the regional market. Today about 12 organizations have cable television licences in the country, but only 4-5 of them are really active. Among the leaders of cable broadcasting are such companies as KATV1, B&BTV, AileTV and SNTV.

In fact, with the arrival of these powerful cable companies, satellite dishes were markedly ousted from the capital, and today they are in demand mainly in the periphery, especially in mountainous and remote areas. Today about 60 per cent of the population of the periphery use satellite dishes, but they will soon be ousted from the regions as well. In particular, KATV1, which is already broadcasting throughout Greater Baku and Sumqayit, plans to promote more than sixty broadcast channels in the north-west of the country. The first regional branch of the company was recently opened in Mingacevir, and soon these branches will become operational in Ganca, Saki and Zaqatala. In November, KATV-1 launched five High Definition channels. It is noteworthy that in the first quarter of this year, the ITV public channel will also begin broadcasting in the HD format. Full HD is five times better than digital broadcasting, but in order to receive this signal, the subscriber must purchase a TV set with a resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels.

The B&BTV cable company also plans to enter the regions: this year it will spread its broadcasting network to the periphery, starting from the Naxcivan Autonomous Republic. A project to expand the geography of broadcasts  is also being developed by another cable TV company - AileTV.

In other words, the population almost in the entire country will have an opportunity to watch not only Azerbaijani, but also foreign TV channels in high quality.