Mexico's Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT) has announced ten more cities that will switch off their analogue TV signals from the end of September, as the country moves towards the total switch-off which is scheduled for the last day of 2015.
The free-to-air (FTA) TV stations to begin DTT transitions before 24 September are: Monterrey and Sabinas Hidalgo in Nuevo León province; Bahía Asunción, Bahía de Tortugas, Guerrero Negro, San Ignacio and Santa Rosalía, in Baja California Sur; Cuencamé in Durango, and San Nicolás Jacala, Hidalgo.
The switch-off will take place in these specific cities as they all already meet the requirements established by the IFT, such as a minimum of 90% homes with DTT-ready TVs, including set-top boxes (STBs) and TVs delivered by the government to the poorest of the population.
Aiming to have 100% of Mexicans ready for the switch-off, the IFT is also deploying a media campaign pointing out the need to adapt televisions to the new standards.
Mexico, which is the Latin American country in which DTT transition is moving fastest, has delayed analogue switch-off on several occasions; it was initially scheduled for 2013.
