Brasília, 3/11/2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Yesterday minister of Communications, Eunício de Oliveira, installed the committee that will decide on Brazil's digital TV format (Comitê de Desenvolvimento do Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital) (SBTV). The committee consists of 20 members who have a year to reach a decision.

They will have to decide among an American, Japanese or European format, or propose the creation of a Brazilian format.

The committee starts out with a budget of R$65 million to be used in studies and research. According to Paulo Lustosa, the executive secretary at the Ministry of Communications, the idea is to come up with a format that will permit consumer interaction within a Brazilian framework. (AB)