VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly half a million poor households in HCMC, Hanoi, Haiphong, and Can Tho will get free TV set-top boxes by June 1 as part of a digital TV development program approved by the Government.

The Government will disburse VND270 billion (US$12.11 million) for the purchase of set-top boxes for 461,893 poor households to get access to pay TV networks and help complete a switch to digital television by 2020 as earlier targeted.

The Vietnam Public Utility Telecommunication Service Fund under the Ministry of Information and Communications said it has signed contracts with three bidding winners for the project to support affected households in the four cities when the country switches off analogue TV signals. The three won four bidding packages to provide and install DVB-T2 set-top boxes at a total cost of VND270 billion.

They should complete the installation of the DVB-T2 set-top boxes for beneficiaries by May 15, the fund said.

The Government funded the installation of set-top boxes for 15,400 households in Danang, the first city in Vietnam to do away with analogue TV in November 1 last year.

Vietnam aims to completely switch to the cable TV to replace outdated analogue technology, which has existed for six decades, to increase TV service quality.

Cable TV services enable providers to offer many more channels and government agencies to better manage the illegal practice of sharing subscriptions.

SGT