[December 25, 2005] Fraud Digital Broadcasting Tweet (Japan Economic Newswire)FUKUOKA, Dec. 25_(Kyodo) _ Sixty cases have been confirmed of false charges being made for construction work on analog TVs required as part of a government plan to introduce terrestrial digital broadcasting, an association under the communications ministry said Sunday. Although the work should be done for free by members of the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses, in one case an elderly person in Hyogo Prefecture was allegedly charged 40,000 yen in the name of TV adjustment costs, the association said. The cases reflect the public's insufficient recognition of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry's plan to start terrestrial digital TV broadcasting in all of the 47 prefectural capitals by the end of 2006, while terminating analog broadcasting in 2011. Introducing terrestrial digital TV broadcasts requires changes in channel settings and the direction of antennas of analog TVs, which are currently widely in use, the association said. Such work is not charged for. Of the 60 cases confirmed so far, 19 involved false charges for changes in TV channels. Three cases were seen in Shizuoka Prefecture, and two cases each in Okayama, Yamaguchi and Kumamoto prefectures. In Saga Prefecture, an elderly person was offered TV construction work that required a charge, which the person refused, in November. In Kumamoto Prefecture and other places, there were cases in which people were told to pay for construction work, with some being told they can receive a discount. Two-thirds of the cases involved false claims for other reasons besides work on channel changes, the association said. The ministry and the association are warning people to take greater care over the issue. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]