Spain’s Government shortens time limit for second ‘digital dividend’



Iñaki Ferreras | 09-11-2012

Spain’s Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism has presented a draft Royal Decree of the new National Technical Plan for DTT, which shortens the time limit for the 'digital dividend'.

The draft was presented to the Advisory Council of Telecommunications and Information Society of the Ministry of Industry (CATSI) and prompted representatives of the private channels to abandon the meeting, claiming the Government had "ignored" the agreements reached between the two parties last August.
According to the draft, the broadcasters will have six months from when the plan comes into force to move parts of their channels to other frequencies and radio channels and will therefore have to broadcast simultaneously over two different frequencies (simulcast). This 'moving' of channels affects all private operators: Antena 3, Telecinco, Cuatro, Net TV, watch TV and Sixth. After the six months, broadcasters will have to stop broadcasting on the old frequencies, meaning users who haven't adapted their antennas or retuned their TVs will no longer be able to receive those channels.
However, following pressure by broadcasters, the ministry has relaxed some of its terms and introduced into the draft the possibility that in order to ensure coverage the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and the Information Society may agree to extend this simulcast to give viewers more time to adjust their antennas.
However, the plan still requires that by 1 January 2014 - one year ahead of the plan of the previous Government - licensees must achieve digital coverage of at least 96% of the population. The television companies consider this insufficient time for 85% of the population to adapt to the new frequency antennas.
The plan also leaves unanswered the question of who will have to bear the additional cost of the 'moving' of channels to two different frequencies to allow viewers continued access while the changeover is going through.
The broadcasters assumed the cost in the first 'blackout' of DTT and the previous Government had committed to pay about €1,800 million it had received from telecoms companies as a result of the auction of the radio spectrum.
However, the Government has already announced that it won’t cover the cost of adapting antennas – this will be borne by users - and now the draft leaves open the possibility of users also helping to pay the cost of the TV companies having to broadcast over two different frequencies.
The draft states that the European Commission is considering whether "compensation with public funds for the additional costs incurred due to the obligation to broadcast simultaneously during the process of releasing the digital dividend" is in line with European legislation or not.
The Government recognizes that the new National Technical Plan of DTT, designed to reduce the plan’s cost from €800 million (forecast by the previous Government) to about €300 million, may result in reduced capacity for some operators.
This means that some operators may lose the ability to implement new services or offer better image quality, but the ministry says that it is already developing new technology solutions for compression and encoding DTT signals that will in the future increase broadcasters’ ability to access a transmission technique similar to that which they are now using," reports Europa Press.