/ONA/
The Ministry of Information will inaugurate tomorrow the terrestrial digital radio and television transmission station in the Wilayat of Al Suwaiq, as part of the completion of the terrestrial television broadcasting digitization project and the enhancement of digital television coverage in a number of governorates and wilayats of the Sultanate of Oman.
Saeed bin Salem Al Shuraqi, Director General of Engineering at the Ministry of Information, said that the terrestrial television broadcasting digitization project comes in line with global developments in the field of terrestrial digital television broadcasting. He explained that the first phase of the project included the implementation of 69 television transmission stations distributed across various governorates and wilayats of the Sultanate of Oman.
He added that the second phase of the project was undertaken to cover a number of areas that were not included in the service, and included the establishment of three new transmission stations in the wilayats of Al Suwaiq, Sohar, and Bidiyah, noting that the inauguration of the Al Suwaiq station comes as part of this phase.
He explained that terrestrial digital television broadcasting replaced analogue television broadcasting and is characterized by high picture quality and efficient use of frequencies. The digital system allows four to five television channels to be broadcast using a single transmitter and frequency, compared with the analogue system, which allocated a transmitter and frequency to each channel. This contributes to reducing equipment costs and achieving greater efficiency in the use of the radio frequency spectrum.
He noted that the Al Suwaiq station will cover the Wilayat of Al Suwaiq and the neighboring areas and wilayats, pointing out that the terrestrial digital television broadcasting project is considered one of the strategic projects of the Ministry of Information, as it provides an integrated terrestrial broadcasting system that can be controlled and managed by Oman TV and the Ministry of Information, thereby enhancing service continuity and operational efficiency.
The Al Suwaiq station has a transmission power of 2 kilowatts and operates on a frequency of 522 megahertz. It provides a number of television and radio channels, including the General Channel, the Cultural Channel, the Mubasher Channel, and the Sports Channel, as well as the following radio programmes: the General Programme, the English Programme, the Youth Programme, and the Holy Quran Radio.
The total cost of the station's technical equipment project amounts to OMR 321,904 and 739 baisa. Its main components include two transmitters (primary and backup), a 106-meter-high transmission tower, a transmission antenna system, an electric generator, a fuel tank, and building protection systems, in addition to a monitoring and control system operated from the main station in Al Rusayl.
The Al Suwaiq station is part of the Ministry of Information's efforts to develop the television broadcasting infrastructure in the Sultanate of Oman, enhance the level of digital coverage, and benefit from modern technologies in the field of terrestrial broadcasting.