Digital Broadcasting forum gets dates

Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO) has announced the dates for the Regional Radio Communication conference otherwise tagged ‘Digital Broadcasting Switchover Forum 2006,’ scheduled to hold at the Royal Horse Guards Hotel, London.

Information contact at CTO, Bhavna Kerai said that following on the success of last year’s forum in which over 80 delegates attended as far as from Botswana, Hungary, Mozambique down to Bahamas, that the event would hold between April 3 and 5.

The edition, which is the second of this forum, Kerai said, that preparations has been finalized for a successful take of the event.

This, the officer said, would enable participants to benchmark their plans in accordance with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU’s) Regional Radio Communication (RRC) conference for the year.

Confirmed participants include ITU, European Broadcasting Union
(EBU), Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Described as the a comprehensive and focused conference for technical briefing aimed at all those involved in the process of switching from analogue to digital broadcasting in Europe, Middle East and African (EMEA) region, Kerai noted that the event would also form a meeting point for the regulators, policy makers and senior level decision makers from region.

According to Kerai, there would be an expose on European positions on transitional plans for RRC ’06 and what the Digital Switchover is costing and how it is being funded, how to achieve and implement a successful switchover plan in practice and government incentives that are persuading broadcasters to migrate more quickly to digital broadcasting.

Other top on the agenda include different regulatory approaches to drive development of the digital broadcasting market, how to successfully solve regulatory issues by coordinating efforts across multiple decision centres, the impact new digital technologies are having on traditional broadcasting revenue, strategies to gain public acceptance and make digital technology affordable and technical options for digital broadcasting roll out.

Additionally, the organisers said that participants would benefit from a series of one-on-one intensive meetings, which could be facilitated in separate meeting rooms, throughout the conference, so as to focus on the coordination process that goes into achieving a successful migration plan into actual business.