A senior official of Japan’s Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications yesterday started furiously back-tracking on his comments on the future (that’s to say none) of Japan’s analogue high definition television system after the earlier statements (CI No 2,360) sparked strong opposition from the electronics industry: Akimasa Egawa, director general of the ministry’s Broadcasting Administration Bureau, told industry officials the ministry would continue analogue testing and start full-fledged broadcasting at some time in the future; the Electronics Industries Association of Japan says it will continue to make high-definition television sets based on the analogue system; and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp said that it had no interest in promoting digital television.
