HAVANA, Jan. 19 -- With the help of the Chinese government, Cuba has enlarged the areas of Digital Television (DTV) tests to the eastern provinces of the island country, local press reported on Sunday.

In Santiago de Cuba, the second largest city in the island, more than 1,500 decoders were distributed in the areas with difficult reception conditions to assess the signal quality, and in Holguin province, some 1,200 decoders were distributed in eight of the 14 municipalities, according to state-run Sunday daily Juventud Rebelde.

According to an agreement signed between the two countries, China would assist Cuba in trials to switch from analog to digital TV. The first tests began in Havana in June last year, with an aim to expand the project across the country.

Cuba is using the Chinese standard Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcast (DTMB), which is very suitable for the goals and needs of the country, General Director of the Institute of Telecommunication Research and Development (Lacetel), Glauco Guillen said, adding that the Chinese government exempted the payment and donated the equipment.