SLOVAKIA is expected to fully switch to digital broadcasting by 2012. On September 8 the Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications launched an information campaign to help Slovaks decide how they will receive their TV signals after that date – for those who receive their signals through individual or collective antennas. There are about 650,000 Slovaks who currently receive their signals in that way, the SITA newswire reported.
Slovakia is switching to digital broadcasting of TV signals along with the rest of the EU. The process will be gradual and for that purpose the country has been divided into 12 parts, so-called islands. The first islands should switch to digital as early as the second-half of 2010, but will be preceded by parallel analogue and digital broadcasting, SITA wrote.
The information campaign, which is expected to cost €1.6 million, will start as a general information campaign and later will become more focused on the areas scheduled for the switch. People with fewer resources, including pensioners, will be eligible for a state allowance of €20 to buy the set-top conversion box which allows an older analogue TV to receive the digital signal or to use towards the purchase a new digital TV.
