DAVID CASSANOVA, technical manager of Love TV, believes that the cost of set-top boxes which will be needed to operate ATSC 3.0 digital television technology will be prohibitive to the average Jamaican unless the Government subsidises the cost of importing the instruments into the island.

Addressing a panel discussion on the closing day of the Advanced Television System Committee’s ATSC 3.0 boot camp and seminar at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny on Thursday, Cassanova said that while the boxes are a step forward in implementing the technology, the current cost of between US$100 and US$300 will prove to be a barrier to potential buyers.

A set-top box converts a digital television signal to analogue to be viewed on a conventional television set, or enable cable or satellite television to be viewed.

“(Jamaica) Customs needs to educate themselves because not all set-top boxes cost the same. I believe they are a stakeholder in all of this. When conversations are happening, they need to be at the table so they can understand. If there is something they can do then we are happy to have them on board because we need customs,” Cassanova told the panel.

“Until we get the cost down where the regular person in Jamaica can afford to buy it, then with all the transmitters broadcasting and nobody taking it up, we are in deep trouble,” Cassanova warned. “This is why I spoke about the cost of the boxes, getting everybody on board with the stakeholders and the local vendors like Courts or Singer who is in that part of the market.”

According to Cassanova, if consumers buy a box and are then charged 48 to 50 per cent of the item’s value in customs duty upon arrival in Jamaica, then the cost will not be affordable to the average citizen.

“You do not want to bring those items to Jamaica and then you cannot get them to the people if they cannot afford it. I know it is hard times, as we have just gone through a pandemic, but what role can the Government play to alleviate the problems of a regular Jamaican getting a set-up box to enjoy this new technology?” asked Cassanova. “If we are able to hand over a box to a registered student, and the Government somehow can facilitate some subsidy there, then we are off to a good start.”

However, Maria Myers-Hamilton, managing director of Spectrum Management Authority, believes that it will not necessarily take as long as a decade for set-top boxes to be made available for Jamaicans.

“Although it took us 10 years to get to this point, we do believe that we are on the right track and the timing will be a bit shorter for us. The market is getting more mature, and the pandemic has shown us that online is the way to go,” said Myers-Hamilton.

“There is more focus now on digitisation, and it is no longer a pipe dream to use digital signals. I believe with collaboration, and with the larger countries in the region coming together, the prices of the set-up boxes and the TVs will come down. It is how fast the demand picks up for it,” Myers-Hamilton added.

The ATSC 3.0, otherwise known as NextGen TV, is an overhaul of the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s standard for sending and receiving over-the-air signals since the group first introduced ATSC 1.0 in 1996. Among its noted features are 4K and HDR picture resolutions, advanced Dolby audio, and viewer access to data transfer options.

In January this year, Jamaica launched its first ATSC 3.0 transmitter site at Television Jamaica’s Lyndhurst Road location in St Andrew, making the television station the first Caribbean broadcaster to be granted ATSC membership. A second transmitter site was launched at Flower Hill in Montego Bay, St James, in early July.

The Broadcasting Commission has made it clear that Jamaica must complete the switch-over from analogue television to digital by 2023.