A senior officer from the Samoan communications regulator says more work needs to be done to develop standard templates for digital television broadcasting regulations and technical standards to be used by Pacific island countries.
Principal Spectrum and Technical officer of Samoa’s Office of the Regulator, Leiataua Eteuati Eteuati, attending the Pacific Media Partnership Conference in Port Moresby, says Samoa continues to face challenges in developing regulations that will respond to technology used by consumers.
The Samoan government is in the process of moving from analogue to digital transition however, like many Pacific island countries, face the challenge of developing regulations that encourage smooth transition and appropriate licencing.
“We have a timeline set by the Samoan government,” Eteuati says.
“Our deadline is in 2018. It’s not realistic and we may have to extend the deadline to 2019,” he added.
Eteuati’s comments come after discussions centering around the Australian experience of a analogue to digital transition that took close to 20 years to complete.
The Australian experience, presented by the Director of Broad Spectrum Australia, Andrew King, highlighted the quality difference between High Definition Television (HDTV) and the analogue system, and the challenges in moving with consumer demands and technology changes.
For Papua New Guinea, digital terrestrial television is available but industry experts explain that analogue systems will still be used for the next 10 years at least until a full transition happens.
