Welcoming The Digital TV Era, The Ministry Of Communication And Information Asks The Public To Choose A Certified Set-Top Box

Set Top Box for digital tv. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Director of Standardization of Post and Information Technology Equipment, Directorate General of Resources and Equipment of Post and Information Technology (SDPPI), Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Mulyadi asked the public to choose certified set-top box (STB) devices to enjoy digital TV broadcasts.

"Choose one that has been certified from the Ministry of Communication and Information," said Mulyadi in a press release quoted on Sunday.

Mulyadi conveyed this in a Webinar entitled "Set Top Box: Don't Know, So Not Digital", which was recently broadcast on the Kominfo YouTube channel and TV partners.

Mulyadi said it is important to choose a set-top box that has been certified to ensure that the device complies with the requirements set by the government, one of which is the Early Warning System (EWS) feature.

"If it's not certified, it doesn't necessarily have this EWS feature," said Mulyadi.

Through the Early Warning System feature, the government can provide early warning in the event of a disaster through TV broadcasts.

To find out information on the type of STB and Digital TV that has been verified by Kominfo, you can check through the broadcast digital.kominfo.go.id page or through the SIRANI application which is available on Android and iOS.

In addition, said Mulyadi, other tips in choosing a set-top box are those with the words DVB-T2, Digital Ready, and the MODI image which is the Digital Ready logo.

A set-top box is a tool for converting digital signals into images and sound that can be displayed on ordinary analog TVs. The Set-Top Box does not require a special satellite dish to receive digital signals, just a UHF-VHF television antenna.

On that occasion, Mulyadi said that the order to carry out the Analog Switch Off (ASO) or migration to digital TV had been stipulated in the 2020 Job Creation Law.

"So two years after the law was passed, the government must end analog television broadcasting and switch to digital television," said Mulyadi.

The schedule set by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics in implementing the Analog Switch Off has been divided into three stages.

The first stage will be on April 30, 2022, in 56 service areas, 116 districts/cities. The second phase will be on August 25, 2022, in 31 service areas of 110 regencies/cities, and the third phase will be on November 2, 2022, in 25 service areas of 65 regencies/cities.

Meanwhile, the Central Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) Commissioner Mohamad Reza said there were a number of positive impacts presented in the migration to digital TV broadcasting.

Among them, the resulting image is clearer, the sound produced is cleaner, interactive, has EWS features, can be accessed for free, and shows protection for children to be protected from inappropriate content.

Meanwhile, Deputy Head of Government Regulation of the Electronic Entrepreneurs Association (Gabel) Joegianto added that to make digital broadcasting a success, his party also disseminated how to buy STB and how to install it.

"The price of STB starts from Rp. 150 thousand to Rp. 300 thousand. Then how to choose the original STB, go to the Kominfo website there, you can check what brand it is, whether it has been registered from Kominfo," he said.

Joegianto also appealed to the public, especially those from the economically well-off group, to start buying set-top boxes for digital TV broadcasting from now on without having to wait for the Analog Switch Off stage to start.