ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
June 29, 2004 Tuesday 7:38 AM Eastern Time

RCC approves introduction of digital broadcasting format in CIS

CHOLPON

ATA (Kyrgyzstan), June 29 – The Council of communications
administration heads of the Regional Commonwealth in the field of
Communications (RCC) has approved the introduction of digital
broadcasting format in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

“The recognition of the stance of CIS countries on the development of
digital radio broadcasting is an important step on the way to
promoting various broadcasting technologies in the territory of the
Commonwealth member states,” Russian Minister of Communications and
Information Technologies Leonid Reiman said at a meeting of the
Council of RCC communications administration heads held at the city
of Cholpon-Ata (Kyrgyzstan) on Tuesday, Prime Tass reports.

According to Deputy Communications Minister Andrei Beskorovainy,
technical fundamentals for the introduction of digital broadcasting
in the entire CIS territory have been approved.

Thus the list of the countries that are transferring to digital radio
broadcasting will include Central Asian states, Azerbaijan and
Armenia.

“We shall begin to introduce the digital radio broadcasting format on
equal terms with European countries,” Beskorovainy pointed out.

Director of the radio communication bureau of the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) Valery Timofeyev said the plan of
frequency distribution adopted at the Tuesday meeting of RCC council
is an important stage of digitalisation of CIS television and radio
broadcasting.

According to Timofeyev, Russia has introduced three zones of digital
radio broadcasting – in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod.

The system’s putting into operation will make it possible in the
future to provide not only radio broadcasting services, but also
access to the Internet, data transmission and telephony.