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On August 27, 2007, the Uruguayan government issued a decree stating that the DVB-T and DVB-H standards will be adopted.[1] While HDTV-ready TV sets are available at the country, a few factors seem to constrain the development of the new technology in the near term:
- Prices for LCD, Plasma and DLP-based TV sets can be two times more expensive in Uruguay than in the region, or four times more expensive than in the US, while wages are also lower than in the region. Some DLP-based displays can cost up to US$7000 in Uruguay as of 2006. There have been few examples, if any, of CRT-based HDTV sets. Taxes seem to play a huge factor in the high prices: There is an almost 30% tax on imported electronics, plus there is 22% VAT, which might have to be paid to the tax office in advance (prior to the sale of the item), and the taxes on employees are also high.[citation needed]
- The cable industry has few incentives to provide other services beyond basic TV services: Internet-by-cable and cable telephony have been either strictly prohibited by law (Antel, the local telco company owned by the government and with a strong union, enjoys a monopoly on basic telephony services and land lines) or thwarted by high taxes on equipment that make a business case for newer technologies unfeasible. Digital Cable has started rolling out, with an initial 100% increase of monthly cost for the SD digital service. High prices for HDTV sets do not help. Some of the cable companies for the largest markets are also owned by the largest local TV content providers, which as of 2006 have not started broadcasting any HDTV content since there has not been an approval of which standard is to be used by the government. One broadcast TV channel (Tveo) owned by the state, has not started to make HDTV tests, demos or broadcasts, while at the same time its content is of low quality.[citation needed]
- DirecTV might be in a better position to provide HDTV content, given that they have experience and content from the US and given that they serve the whole continent. But DirecTV's policy in Uruguay has been that of providing "leftover" equipment from Argentina to its customers in Uruguay (i.e., first-generation RCA receivers), which as of now do not support HDTV content or Dolby AC-3 Sound. Uruguayan DirecTV customers have no way of buying an alternative DirecTV set, as in the States or in Argentina, other than that provided by DirecTV.[citation needed]
- Uruguay hoped for neighboring countries reaching an agreement on an HDTV standard, but so far that does not seem to be the case. Brazil has adopted the ISDB system, while Argentina and Uruguay have historically used TV systems based on a European standard (PAL-N 625/50 Hz). Now Argentina seems to be settling on the ATSC standard, and Uruguayan URSEC authorities have provided no information on which road they will go. On August 27th, 2007, Ursec settled on DVB-T and DVB-H. The TV sets being sold in Uruguay seem to be closer to ATSC HDTV-based standards (60 Hz systems, with ATSC tuners in some cases). Most of the DVD-based content in the country is NTSC/60 Hz-based, while the TV standard in use is PAL/50 Hz-based. Most of the analog TV sets sold are PAL-N, PAL-M and NTSC capable, while most DVD players are multiregion. Authorities are not asking retailers to identify which standard the HDTV sets sold adhere to. On the bright side, it seems that most HDTV standards support both 60/50 streams, so that should not be an issue since the TV sets will have to also support both standards to be certified.[citation needed]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Uruguay. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
