More than 8,500 socially deprived families in Moldova will get digital terrestrial receivers that will enable to gratis receive television broadcasts on the territory of the Republic of Moldova through internal or external antennas. The devices were donated by the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau through the agency of the public association “Universal Media”, IPN reports.

According to an information statement of “Universal Media”,  the STB (Set Top Box) digital terrestrial receivers will offer free access to information to each family in need, ensuring high-quality picture.

Project coordinator Tatiana Pantilei said that to ensure healthy democracy, the public should have access to a wide range of opinions and news source and everyone should have access to information, regardless of the level of education or social status.

Tatiana Pantilei noted the project “Access to Digital Terrestrial Television” aims to contribute to solving two major problems faced by the socially underprivileged groups in villages. The lack of access to information for people from rural areas is the first problem. Together with the switchover to digital terrestrial television, the socially deprived population in Moldova’s villages practically lost access to TV channels. The lack of financial resources for the persons in need to be able to but a digital terrestrial TV set is the second problem.

“We intend to provide digital terrestrial receivers to stoically unprivileged people who live in inaccessible areas. It is important to create equitable conditions, primarily for persons in need who have limited access to information. This way, over 8,500 families in the Republic of Moldova will have access to digital terrestrial television without subscription, to a higher number of TV channels, to higher quality picture and sound compared with analog television,” stated the project coordinator.