Almost one thousand digital terrestrial television converters were distributed to families who received social assistance in February, 2018, and submitted applications to social workers, between March 1 and May 5, 2018. The distribution process began on October 7, according to a Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure statement provided to the IPN Press Agency.
According to the statement, 9100 TV converters were purchased from state budget funds. The cost of the purchase was 2 817 360 lei, while the cost of the distribution services to the beneficiaries was 131 312 lei, which amount to a total of 2 948 672 lei. MEI said that a second stage to equip with such devices about 42726 beneficiary families of social assistance, who have not been able to submit applications to obtain a free TV converter, is envisaged.
Starting with March 1, 2020, only the digital signal will be broadcasted and will cover 99% of the population, while offering free of charge up to 18 TV channels. In order to receive the digital signal on old TV sets, a DVB-T2 H.265 standard converter needs to be connected. The converter costs around 400-700 lei and can be purchased at home appliances or online stores. New TV sets that can receive the digital signal, only require searching for the channels.
The Republic of Moldova, along with 103 other countries, has ratified the Geneva 2006 Regional Agreement. According to the Agreement, the countries have committed to suspend the broadcast in analogue format as of June 17, 2015. The Republic of Moldova, internally, extended the deadline until March 1, 2020 .
