The much-awaited high definition television broadcast is likely to start in the UAE by the middle of next year,  said the head of a leading consumer electronics group in the region.

’The full HD service was supposed to begin last year, but was delayed. One reason was that full content in HD is not available for normal 24-hour broadcasting,’ Deepak Babani, chief of Eros Group, was quoted as saying in the Gulf News. 

’Though the media has tried to highlight full HD, but just because the software is not available, the interest is not there. But once the software arrives, the demand for the hardware will automatically grow,’ he noted.

’We have been ready for HD for two and a half years now in terms of infrastructure, but there isn’t enough content to broadcast to balance the costs,’ explained Humaid Rashid Sahoo, chief of e-vision.

Right now in the Gulf region, people use a full HDTV for watching blu-ray DVDs and for gaming consoles.