Argentina bets on smartphones with integrated digital TV receiver

The Argentine government's intention is for cell phones to integrate Open Digital Television (TDA) tuners, in which the State has already invested more than 10.5 billion dollars.

Cell phone manufacturers that have plants in Argentina have reached an agreement with the Minister of Industry, Débora Giorgi, to define the lines of a plan that encourages the use of digital television in mobility.

The Argentine government's intention is for cell phones to integrate Open Digital Television (TDA) tuners, in which the State has already invested more than 10.5 billion dollars, and which reaches 70% coverage.
While Samsung, Sony and ZTE confirmed that they were in a position to manufacture equipment that received this DTT signal, other manufacturers such as Huawei, LG, Motorola and Nokia promised to prepare a response to be part of the ministry's project.

Samsung, for example, already offered its Galaxy S throughout Latin America in 2010, which offered a tuner with the Japanese ISDB-T standard, also adopted by Brazil and Venezuela, and which also made a foothold in Argentina. Motorola, for its part, like LG and ZTE, offer devices with the same system.

These new devices, according to the Argentine government, should not be more than $10 more expensive than other smartphones that do not have a DTT tuner. The government's intention is that before mid-2013 Argentina will have more than 300,000 terminals with the possibility of receiving digital terrestrial TV.