The government should keep the public better informed of the advent of digital television era, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) said yesterday.

A DAB survey found that the majority of people have little or no knowledge about digital television broadcast which will be launched in the city by the end of this year.

The government said a website www.digital.gov.hk has been set up in March 2006 in addition to pamphlets to promote digital TV.

Between August 28 and September 4, the party conducted a random telephone survey of 1,024 citizens about the launch of digital TV in Hong Kong.

Of the respondents, 37 percent said they did not know what digital TV was, and 42 percent said they did not know digital TV would be launched in Hong Kong by the end of 2007.

Besides, 49 percent said they had no idea if they need to replace or add any equipment to watch digital TV, while 74 percent said they did not know where to get information about digital TV.

"The government should put in more efforts to promote the launch of digital TV in Hong Kong," said Wallace Yeung, the party's deputy information technology spokesman.

"Given TV programmes have become the necessities of local families, the government should organize more promotional activities during this parallel period until analogue TV broadcasting is phased out in 2012."

A spokeswoman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau replied that the government had agreed with ATV and TVB in June on the system to be used to launch terrestrial digital TV.

In conjunction with the manufacturers for the set-up boxes (decoders), the government would organize more promotional activities with the two TV stations prior to the launch of digital TV in Hong Kong.

(HK Edition 09/22/2007 page6)