The Hanoitmes - An international workshop entitled “Strengthening Digital Broadcasting Experience” was held in Hanoi o­n May 22-23 o­n the sidelines of the 8th Asia Media Summit.

The workshop was held jointly by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV).

Addressing the opening remarks, Luu Vu Hai, Director General of the Broadcasting and Electronic Information Authority under the Vietnam Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) said that although Vietnam has had a late start in communication and broadcasting technologies, the country is catching up with the new trends of digital broadcasting for public users.

The country also planed to achieve 100 percent digital broadcasting coverage by 2020, he stressed.

Participants at the workshop heard experiences of transferring from analog to DTTB in developing countries including Mongolia, Bhutan, Nepal and Vietnam.

They were introduced to various DTTB technologies such as Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial 1 and 2 in Germany, and Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting in Japan. They also learned about Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (T-DMB) and the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standards for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable, and satellite networks in the Republic of Korea as well as China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting (CMMB).

Speakers from Malaysia, France and Vietnam introduced a variety of innovations in set top boxes and digital receivers, their markets and opportunities for development.

On May 23, the participants discussed policies and regulations, technology and business possibilities for the introduction of mobile television in the Asia-Pacific region.

They also focused o­n the future of broadcasting and how to enhance the capacity of broadcasters.