Cuba launches a DTT pilot project under the DTMB standard

To test signal transmission and reception in homes, set top boxes have been distributed in specific neighborhoods of Havana.

These days Cuba is carrying out digital television tests in areas of Havana, using the Chinese standard for Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Transmission (DTMB).

For signal transmission tests and reception in homes, set top boxes have been distributed in specific neighborhoods of Havana, in order to achieve adequate geographical dispersion and different reception conditions within the entire area of ​​the Cuban capital.

This equipment that allows receiving and viewing the digital signal on current televisions was donated to Cuba by the Chinese government, as part of an agreement signed between both countries.

The purpose of the authorities is to introduce digital TV progressively and by region on the island, in accordance with the “economic possibilities” and “in line with technological evolution” at an international level.

Cuba began to look towards the so-called Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) in 2009, when it hosted an event for this transition, which was attended by representatives of the European digital standards, the Japanese one with its Brazilian variant, and the Chinese one.

The island's specialists pointed out at that meeting that the selection of the standard was the first step in the implementation of the new support on the island, for greater quality of transmission and reception of signals.

The future possibility of increasing the number of channels, improving the reach of television in silent areas or where reception is currently poor, as well as providing other services that would be impossible with the analog signal, are also part of the objectives.

The move towards the digital system requires, in addition to a strong technical investment in transmission, changes in signal reception, either with the acquisition of new televisions or equipment to decode the digital signal.

Cuba has five national television channels and 15 provincial ones, all state-owned, as well as an international signal, Cubavisión Internacional. Since January, the Latin American television channel Telesur has also been broadcast free-to-air.