Kyrgyz officials learn about digital switchover on OSCE-supported study tour to Poland

BISHKEK/WARSAW, 11 March 2015 – Representatives of the Kyrgyz Minister of Culture, Information and Tourism began a three-day OSCE-supported study tour on Tuesday to the Polish Ministry of Administration and Digitalization, to learn more about the country’s successful transition to digital television broadcasting.

During the visit, the Kyrgyz delegation will learn about the information campaign that went alongside Poland’s transition to digital television. Poland switched off analogue services in July 2013. The objective is for the Kyrgyz delegation to get an insight on how to reach out to citizens and inform them about the complicated phasing-out of analogue television.

“Kyrgyzstan is on the verge of global changes. By 17 June 2015 it will transition to digital television broadcasting based on the signed “Geneva-06” International Digital Broadcasting Plan on phasing-out analogue television,” said Maciej Dachowski, Acting Head of the Politico-Military Department at the OSCE Centre in Bishkek. “All OSCE participating States have committed to an open media market, improved access to information for all groups of the population, a conscious information policy as well as quality and diverse domestic content demanded by citizens.”

The Kyrgyz Government announced the transition to digital broadcasting as a national priority in the country’s Sustainable Development Strategy for 2013-17. The OSCE Centre in Bishkek, in co-operation with Soros-Kyrgyzstan, supports the development and implementation of a national information campaign about the digital switchover, which includes development of a brand, a website, and a call-centre to answer questions from the general public.

In accordance with the May 2006 resolution of the Regional Radio Communications Conference on “Geneva 06 signed by participants of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Central Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan, should switch to digital broadcasting by 17 June 2015. After this date, the frequencies of analogue television channels will no longer have international protection.