According to the New York Times, General Instrument Corporation developed the world's first digital television system in 1991, which preceded the formation of the Grand Alliance, a government-sponsored race, to to develop a new digital standard in 1993. This culminated in the United States ATSC standard.
Digital Video Body (DVB) reports that in 1991, European broadcasters and consumer equipment manufacturers discussed how to form a concerted pan-European platform to develop digital terrestrial TV. They teamed up with regulatory bodies to expand development of DTV and signed an agreement in 1993 to promote the DVB-T standard in Europe.
As of May 26, 2010, HDTV Magazine reports that dozens of countries in Europe, Asia, and Central and South America have launched or adopted the European (DVB-T) or Japanese (ISDB-T) Standard. China is implementing their own DTMB standard.
As of June 15, 2009, the New York Times reports that the switch to digital television is due to two reasons. Firstly, it offers a more efficient transmission of data at a higher quality. Secondly, moving to digital frees up the existing analog spectrum for other uses, such as cellphone and public-safety radio transmissions.
HDTV Magazine reports that the original goal of the ATSC in the U.S. was to create a common digital video standard for both North and South America. Due to international competition from other countries, the end result was three standards, including DVB-T and ISBD-T.
The DVB Project is an alliance of 250-300 companies originally of European origin but now worldwide. The Project's goal is to create suites of of standards for digital television broadcasting and multimedia broadcasting.
The DVB reports that the project has already agreed on a number of IP and convergence-oriented systems--for example, DVB over IP networks. DVB says the future lies in the seamless inter-operation of digital telephony systems and digital broadcasting and the emerging in-home network environments.
The ISBD Terrestrial standard was adopted in Japan in December 2003 and has been widely accepted in South America. The standard allows a broadcast simultaneously of HDTV and "One-Seg" programs. "One-Seg" is the name of a broadcasting service for hand-held receivers such as cellular phones.
The IEEE Spectrum Magazine reports that the DTMB standard was finalized by China in 2006 just in time for the Summer Olympics. This late start has allowed China to take advantage of advances in information-coding technologies that make digital television work well even in bad weather. You can even watch a broadcast on a cellphone while sitting on a high-speed train, IEEE Spectrum Magazine says.
According to the New York Times, there is fierce competition over prestige and profits between the United States and Europe. Over time manufacturers from both sides of the Atlantic hope to sell equipment worth billions of dollars. (See Reference 3)