Brasília, October 20, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - This week the Ministry of Communications is expected to conclude the text of the decree concerning research for the creation of a Brazilian digital TV model. This information was provided on Friday (17) by the Minister of Communications, Miro Teixeira, at a meeting with the Minister of Education, Cristovam Buarque, and the chief of the Presidential Civilian Advisory Staff, Minister José Dirceu, to discuss this question.
According to the Minister, the research projects will receive resources from the Telecommunications Technological Development Fund (Funtel), which disposes of R$ 80 million. Funtel's revenues come from contributions based on the earnings of telecommunications companies.
According to the Minister, the decree will establish policies for research procedures to be followed by the universities involved in the project. "This does not mean the choice of a system; a study is being conducted to create a standard which will be compared to the other, existing ones," he emphasized. Three digital TV models exist nowadays: the American, the European, and the Japonese.
The Minister recalled that the universities that are not participating in this first phase can join the research at a later date. "We shall not close the doors to anyone," he pointed out.
Over 30 universities already possess projects in the area and will be divided into five thematic groups, which will be coordinated by three councils: systems development, management, and consultation. The first of these councils will comprise members of the government. Technical experts and engineers will be represented on the management council, and the consultation council will include firms interested in the question and civil society.
According to the Minister, proposals for a Brazilian model should be presented in a year, after the research is approved. He estimates that research contracts should be ready within 30-40 days. One of the goals of the research is to elaborate an integrated network for long-distance learning. (DAS)
