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Costa: Brazil Waives Tariff on Imported HD Radio Transmitters
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Hélio Costa, Brazil’s Minister of Communications, was upbeat about the future of radio and HD Radio in his country.
He spoke at a breakfast sponsored by Broadcast Electronics and Ibiquity Digital during the recent NAB show. BE said more than 200 Brazilian broadcasters attended the event.
Costa talked about his recollections of AM radio, cart machines and BE; he started out as a broadcaster in the 1960s.
BE President John Pedlow and José Fonseca of Brazilian broadcast equipment supplier Savana Ltd., spoke at the breakfast, as did Perry Priestley of Ibiquity.
The minister of communications has advocated the adoption of digital radio in Brazil, which has been conducting HD-R trials since 2005.
Spurring IBOC in the country is a tariff waiver on imported HD Radio transmitters; the waiver will be in effect for two years in order to soften the impact of costs associated with digital adoption by Brazilian stations, according to BE.
The breakfast was held in cooperation with the AESP, an association of Radio and TV broadcasters based in São Paulo.
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