Panama speeds up DTT roll-out
Details
Juan Fernandez Gonzalez
| 22 March 2018

A DTT signal is available for nearly 70% of TV homes in Panama, according to the country’s Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP).

Aiming for a partial analogue switch-off in the last quarter of 2018, Panama’s telecom authority has speeded up the digital switchover, having considerably increased the DTT reach during last year.

In the departments of Panama, Panama Oeste and Colon, where the first phase of the analogue switch-off is scheduled for 14 October 2018, nearly 93% of TV homes already have access to DTT.

In addition, the main cities of the departments of Coclé, Herrera, Los Santos and Veraguas are also covered by the digital TV signal ahead of the second phase of the switch-off.

According to the ASEP’s annual report, there are already eight TV brands whose sets are exclusively sold equipped with a DVB-T DTT decoder.

There will be still two more phases of deployment before the country’s digitalisation process is complete. The final switch-off date is not yet set, but is expected before the end of 2020.