Through the arrangement, high-speed Internet will be able to be provided (by the government).
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Communication and Information Ministry has determined five important reasons why Indonesia should switch to digital terrestrial television broadcasting, special staff to the Communication and Information Minister, Rosarita Niken Widiastuti, has said.

"November 2 (2022) is the start of the implementation of the analogue switch-off (ASO), as mandated by the Job Creation Act," she noted during a webinar entitled “ASO Dissemination and Set-Top Box (STB) Assistance Handover Ceremony with the Communication and Information Ministry as well as Commission I of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI)” on Monday.

The first reason for Indonesia to switch to digital broadcasting is to provide quality broadcasts to the public.

Digital broadcasting offers a cleaner and clearer picture and sound compared to analogue broadcasting.

However, in digital broadcasting, there is no broadcast at all if the receiver devices do not get any signal from the transmitting tower in contrast to analogue broadcasting, in which there may be picture or sound noise when the signal is not optimal.

The second reason is efficiency in the use of the frequency spectrum. While an analogue channel utilizes the entire band at a radio frequency of 700 Megahertz (MHz), one frequency band can be used by 6 to 12 channels in digital broadcasting.

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Furthermore, this efficiency provides digital dividends on the radio frequency spectrum. When the switch to digital broadcasting is complete, Indonesia will get a digital dividend of 112MHz on each spectrum.

The government plans to use the digital dividend to improve the distribution of uniform Internet access in various regions in Indonesia.

"Through the arrangement, high-speed Internet will be able to be provided (by the government)," Widiastuti noted.

The fourth reason is that broadcasting digitization will also encourage the development of the digital economy.

A study by the ministry and the Boston Consulting Group has estimated that 200 thousand jobs will be created due to the digitization.

The broadcasting industry is also projected to grow swiftly thanks to ASO.

Using digital broadcasting, the cost of establishing a television station will be cheaper compared to analogue broadcasting, which involves huge costs as it requires the construction of a transmitting tower.

Meanwhile, the fifth reason is to prevent disputes with neighboring countries due to frequency spectrum interference in border areas.

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Translator: Natisha Andarningtyas, Uyu Liman
Editor: Suharto
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