Digital broadcasting will transform the global communication landscape by 2015, the International Telecommunications Union reported Friday.

The ITU said that the digitalization of broadcasting in Europe, Africa and the Middle East by 2015 "represents a major landmark towards establishing a more equitable, just and people-centered information society. The digital switchover will leapfrog existing technologies to connect the unconnected in underserved and remote communities and close the digital divide."

At the ITU's radiocommunication conference in Geneva that concluded Friday, the agency said the transition period from analog to digital broadcasting begins June 17, and will end in June 2015.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International