The Ministry Of Communication And Informatics Officially Cancels Analog TV Broadcasts

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo) said it would reschedule to inoculate analog broadcasts.

"Initially the initial blackout which was planned to be executed on August 17, 2021, was canceled and will be rescheduled along with the next analog switch-off (ASO) stages", said Director General of Post and Information Technology of the Ministry of Communication and Information, Ismail, in a virtual conference recently.

Ismail reasoned that the adjustment to the termination of analog TV broadcasting took several things into account. Among other things, the focus of the government and all elements of society at this time is the handling and recovery of the COVID-19 condition. The government also receives a lot of input from the public and community elements so that the first phase of ASO is not carried out on August 17.

"We are also evaluating various technical readiness of stakeholders, related stakeholders to migrate to digital TV broadcasting, further preparation is still needed", said Ismail.

However, Ismail has not revealed when to reschedule the termination of analog TV broadcasts to digital TV in the first phase in the 15 districts or cities.

"We will submit a revision to the Regulation of the Minister of Communication and Information Technology regarding the implementation of ASO as soon as possible", said Ismail.

As previously reported, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics Number 6 of 2021 concerning Broadcasting, stated that it would gradually stop broadcasting analog TV in various regions until it completely switched to digital TV broadcasting no later than November 2, 2022.

The Ministry of Communication and Information has divided it into five stages in the analog TV lethal injection agenda. Throughout 2021, the government will stop broadcasting analog TV in two stages. The remaining three stages will be carried out in 2022.

The areas included in the first phase of ASO include Aceh - 1 (Aceh Besar Regency, Banda Aceh City, Riau Islands - 1 (Bintan Regency, Karimun Regency, Batam City, Tanjung Pinang City), Banten - 1 (Serang Regency, Cilegon City) , Serang City), East Kalimantan - 1 (Kutai Kartanegara Regency, Samarinda City, Bontang City), North Kalimantan - 1 (Bulungan Regency, Tarakan City) and North Kalimantan - 3 (Nunukan Regency).

Although it was converted to digital TV, this transfer did not use internet access, but rather a Set-Top Box (STB). This is of course a concern because not all Indonesian people can reach it.