Russia to complete the transition to digital TV broadcasting by 2015

2011-09-02



The Russian government is planning to finalise the transition to digital TV broadcasting in the country by 2015, according to Igor Schyogolev, the minister of mass communications. Mr Schyogolev stated that probable loss of the recently launched communication satellite in Russia will not impact the final deadline, although the programme will require some corrections.

The total approved budget of the Russian federal programme for the development of digital TV broadcasting for 2009-2015 is RUB 122.4bn (€3bn). The first public digital broadcasting service in Russia, with the available eight free TV channels, was launched in July 2011 in the Kursk region. By the end of the year, digital TV is to be accessible by 43 million Russian citizens.