Digital dividend to bring EUR 100 million profit

BELGRADE - Serbia could make a EUR 100 million profit from the digital dividend after it switches to digital television broadcasting mid next year, State Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Tatjana Matic said Tuesday.

The switchover to digital television officially started on Monday and needs to be completed by June 17, 2015, Matic told the Radio and Television of Serbia.

She underlined that digitization is very important for the country due to its impact on economy, and as an important step forward in terms of technology.

The transition from analog to digital TV would free the spectrum of analog frequencies, "a public resource with great market value", which could then be offered to mobile phone operators to improve their coverage and speed up mobile internet connection, said Matic.

"By selling off the released analog spectrum, some countries in the region profited around EUR 100 million," Matic pointed out.