CHILE SELECTS JAPANESE DIGITAL TV STANDARD

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000874 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECPS ECON PREL TSPL CI SUBJECT: CHILE SELECTS JAPANESE DIGITAL TV STANDARD REF: SANTIAGO 818 ¶1. (U) On September 14, Chile announced its decision to adopt the Japanese digital TV standard (ISDB-T). Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications Rene Cortazar cited the quantity of channels, signal quality, and mobile features as the key factors in the decision. ¶2. (U) Chile joins Brazil, Peru, Argentina, and Venezuela on the list of South American countries that have adopted the Japanese standard. The decision came after an intense lobbying effort by the Japanese government and Brazil. Six Chilean Congressman traveled to Japan to learn about the standard and Brazilian President Lula raised the issue with President Bachelet. ¶3. (U) Chile still must pass legislation to fully implement digital TV, but broadcasters will be permitted to transmit digital signals on a trial basis. Full transition from analog to digital is expected to take 8-10 years. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: The Embassy worked closely with Washington agencies and the ATSC forum to support the U.S. HDTV standard, including a recent demarche by the Ambassador (reftel). But it appears that Brazil and Japan consistently raised this at a higher level and persuaded other Southern Cone neighbors to also adopt the Japanese standard. We suspect the fact that Argentina and Peru joined with Brazil may have had at least as much influence on the Chilean decision as did the technical factors cited by Cortazar. End comment. SIMONS