YEREVAN. - Digital television can be acquired in Armenian even now, Artur Araqelyan, First Deputy Minister of Transport and Communication, said in the parliament on Thursday.

According to Araqelyan, analog broadcast will be completely replaced by digital one from 1 January 2016. Citizens can already acquire the digital decoders; they cost about 8-9 thousand AMD on the market (approx. US $20), he said, noting that socially vulnerable families will get the decoders free of charge.

The decoder will enable to watch the package of free local TV channels. The digital broadcast of 18 TV channels is already available in Yerevan and Ararat Valley, 9 TV channels being available in other provinces, Araqelyan said.