Analogue TV services to end

February 11, 2019

Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau:
The Government is now announcing that the formal switching off of analogue TV services will begin on November 30, 2020, that means Hong Kong will enter into an era of full digital TV broadcast from December 1, 2020. This is in line with the global trend to have digital TV as the major broadcasting service, and so doing, would not only improve the quality of reception but it also would allow us to vacate the precious spectrum for other use. In our plan, we intend to make use of 160 MHz of spectrum vacated from the analogue TV for use by the mobile telecommunication services, which essentially would relieve existing congested indoor mobile hotspots, such as MTR stations. We hope this will be conducive to the overall telecom service delivery as well as helping Hong Kong to move ahead with smart city development initiatives. According to our study, 90% of households are already using digital TVs. This high level of penetration means that by the time we switch off analogue services, the majority of households wouldn’t need to make any adjustment because they have been watching the TV by way of digital services. But for those who are still using analogue TV sets, what they would need to do is either switch to a digital TV set or add a set-top box if they decide to keep the old TV set if it is functioning well. 

We also notice that among those households who still use analogue TV sets, some of them might be in the categories of elderly people or people who might be in the lower income group, so we have a plan to give them some financial support for this switching. By the middle of this year, we will be seeking funding from the Community Care Fund to launch a scheme where we will help these households in need purchase either set-top boxes for the existing TVs or a basic model of digital TV.

The Government today announced it will switch off analogue television services on November 30, 2020.

Hong Kong will enter an era of full digital television broadcasting on December 1 of the same year, it said.

Speaking to the media today, Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau said: “We intend to make use of 160 MHz of spectrum vacated from the analogue TV for use by the mobile telecommunication services, which essentially would relieve existing congested indoor mobile hotspots, such as MTR stations.

“We hope this will be conducive to the overall telecom service delivery as well as helping Hong Kong to move ahead with smart city development initiatives."

According to a study conducted in 2017, nearly 90% of households in Hong Kong have already switched to digital terrestrial television as of late-2017.

Mr Yau said: “This high level of penetration means that by the time we switch off analogue services, the majority of households wouldn’t need to make any adjustment because they have been watching the TV by way of digital services.”

To access digital television services, people can switch to a digital television or add a set-top box to their old television.

The Government also plans to seek funding from the Community Care Fund to launch a scheme to subsidise eligible households to purchase a set-top box or a basic model digital television, Mr Yau added.

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