Attn Mainstream Media - ASO will *NOT* be occuring in NZ in 2012
This misconception is being continually fueled by the media who continue to repeat this date, including in an interview with Steve Browning from Freeview that appeared in the Domonion Post yesterday that says
(discussing ASO)Public policy is to achieve this by 2012, or when three-quarters of the population has digital instead of analogue TV, whichever comes first.
This is incorrect. Lets get the facts straight.
ASO will *NOT* occur in New Zealand in 2012. Analogue TV will continute to be broadcast past 2012.
To quote the Ministry of Economic Development
(b) Setting a Switch-off Date
10. Free-to-air digital television (DTV) needs to establish itself, and time is needed to assess take-up rates and the public response to DTV. An initial target date (or range) for ASO will therefore only be announced once total DTV penetration reaches around 60%. Following this, a firm date will be set once penetration reaches around 75%, or in 2012 – whichever is first.
Is it very clear that a date for ASO (analogue shutoff) will be announced in 2012 or when uptake reaches 75%. ASO will NOT occur in 2012 or when 75% of households have digital TV.
Industry expectations are that ASO will occur when digital uptake reaches around 90%. This is expected to occur sometime around 2014 - 2016. It will certainly not be occuring in 2012.
I've blogged about this in the past and it's clear that many members of the mainstream media seem to struggle to grasp this basic fact as it seems to be continually repeated. A little bit of reading on the MED website will give you all the facts.
Other related posts:
Netsys HPNA/HCNA adapter review
When is a deal not necessarily a deal? When you buy it from Spreets.
Are NZ consumers being duped by retailers as Digital TV comes to town?
Comment by cyril7, on 21-Jun-2009 11:21 , user id: 22011)
Hi, I see in the lattest Goverment Tender watch that the ministry is calling for a CEO to take charge of DSO, it is a job that is expected to plan and media front this change over, what is really interesting is that the post is expected to have a 12month existence.
Cheers Cyril
Add a comment
Please note: comments that are inappropriate or promotional in nature will be deleted.
E-mail addresses are not displayed, but you must enter a valid e-mail address to confirm your comments.
Are you a registered Geekzone user? Login to have the fields below automatically filled in for you and to enable links in comments.
If you have (or qualify to have) a Geekzone Blog then your comment will be automatically confirmed and shown in this blog post.
Comment by paradoxsm, on 19-Mar-2009 20:12 , user id: 8664)
Though media stating "2012" like this must sure be pushing the sales of the STB's through the roof! Hills and Zinwell must have good shares in Fairfax. ;-)
I think many are confusing the 027 CDMA support end date which has been said as being "Supported till at least 2012"