Panama joins the DVB

After Uruguay in 2007 and Colombia in 2008, Panama becomes the third country to officially adopt DVB-T as a standard for digital TV.

The president of the Republic of Panama has signed an executive decree by which the country will adopt DVB-T as the standard for its digital television. The Panamanian Government has justified this decision by the flexibility and opportunities that the European standard will provide both broadcasters and consumers, obtaining advantages in the socioeconomic, technical and regulatory fields. This option has been taken after numerous tests carried out in 36 points in the country in a strip of 20 kilometers. Finally, the National Technical Committee created in 2007 and made up of 25 experts prepared a report favorable to DVB-T. Manuel Troitiño, president of this commission, commented that "the National Authority of Public Services of Panama has been charged with establishing the technical guidelines and regulations necessary for the migration to digital terrestrial television, within a period of no more than eighteen months." For his part, Phil Laven, president of the DVB Project, has expressed his joy at Panama's decision and that there are now 240 million DVB receivers around the world.

The standard chosen by Colombia, Uruguay, Panama and French Guyana is the one that most Latin American countries have adopted, followed by the American standard (ATSC) assigned by Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras, while the Brazilian-Japanese standard (ISDB) only has Brazil and Peru. As for Paraguay, Chile and Argentina, it seems that it is precisely the ISDB that finally prevailed.

Everything seems to indicate that Panama could launch a regular DVB-T DTT service next year. The National Public Services Authority (ASEP) plans to carry out the blackout in 2020.