Staff Reporter
Secretary Information Zahida Parveen on Monday said that a digital migration policy for Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) will be presented to Prime Minister Imran Khan in the next week to convert the broadcaster’s transmission from analague to digital system.
She was speaking during sub-committee meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting held here to discuss the ongoing reforms in Radio Pakistan. The meeting was chaired by Convener Syed Aminul Haq and attended by members of National Assembly Usman Khan Tarakzai and Maiza Hameed.
The Secretary Information said the digital migration of Radio Pakistan would be implemented in three phases at a cost of Rs 3.995 billion in six years.
She said since India was encroaching on radio frequencies of Pakistan, so the new digital policy of the Radio was important to increase its listenership and coverage and advance the narrative of country.
The committee was apprised during the briefing that All India Radio had planned digital management coverage and after its completion, over 70 percent of India and border areas would be covered with 30 DRM broadcast stations, so Pakistan also needed to transform its radio stations.
Director General Radio Pakistan Samina Waqar told during the briefing to the parliamentarians that in the first phase, to be executed at an estimated cost of Rs 42 million in one year, the pilot project of digital broadcast will be completed. Other projects during this phase will include an one-kilowatt digital rights management (DRM), FM station in Islamabad, 400 KW digital AM station in Peshawar and 100 KW station in Dera Ismail Khan.
