The Uruguayan Government inauguarted the trial free-to-air digital TV broascasting of the state-owned Televisión Nacional del Uruguay (TNU) channel, in Montevideo and the Metropolitan area. Uruguay adopted the Japanese digital ISDB-T standard in 2010, chosen by most of the countries in the region.
Over the course of the channel presentation, the Minister of Industry Roberto Kreimerman highlighted the joint work carried out by Uruguay, Brazil and Japan. Additionally, he stated that this step “is grounded on five pillars: radio and television digitalization for the optimization of their use, the creation, by means of new standards, of a system that will serve as the basis for the society of knowledge, the development of related industries, the technological transfer following a vision that will include the whole Latin America, the social inclusion and democratization”. The minister also mentioned the possibility of installing a content center and a digital television laboratory with Brazilian assistance, which will enable “our own technological development through our professional and technicians”.
Tetsuo Yamakawa, Japan’s Communications Viceminister -who assisted with with Uruguay’s President Jose Mujica to the broadcast launch- assured that the technology will not only be available for TV sets, but also mobile phones, laptops and iPads.
The Japanese Government, by means of an agreement between both nations, donated equipment for TNU, which includes a 7.5 KW transmitter for Montevideo, a 1 KW transmitter for Colonia and other study materials, such as a signal converter and a format and multiplexer. Although Montevideo’s multiplexer has already been installed, the one assigned to Colonia is expected to be ready within a few days.
