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Digital television transition

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Digital switchover is the name given to the process in which analogue broadcast television in an area is converted to digital television. It is also sometimes referred to as analogue switchoff. The motivation behind the switch is the improved quality of digital broadcasts over analog ones and the freeing up of valuable spectrum space for other services (and bidders).

The scale of digital switchover can vary: at one extreme, a small, low-power transmitter can be converted to digital. This is what happened at Ferryside and Llansteffan in the UK, and is normally conducted as a trial, although it can be a permanent change. At the other extreme, a whole country can be converted from analogue to digital television.

In many countries, a simulcast service is operated where a broadcast is made available to viewers in both analog and digital at the same time. As digital becomes more popular it is likely that the existing analog services will be removed. In some cases this has already happened where a broadcaster has offered incentives to viewers to encourage them to switch to digital or simply switched their service regardless of whether they want to switch. In other cases government policies have been introduced to encourage the switch-over process, especially with regard to terrestrial broadcasts.

Government intervention usually involves providing some funding for broadcasters and, in some cases, monetary relief to viewers, to enable a switch-over to happen by a given deadline.

The facility with which digital switchover can be achieved depends not only on the size of the area and number of transmitters to be converted, but also on the number of viewers who rely on the analogue signal as their primary or only means of TV reception. In Berlin, for example, most residents were using cable television, so only a small number of households needed the new equipment necessary for digital reception. On the other hand, around 60% of UK households had access to multi-channel television as of Summer 2005 [1]. This left around 10 million households who would be forced to convert to another means of receiving television by the time digital switchover reaches their area.


Digital Switchover around the World

Switch-off completed

Notice on Finnish analog TV, telling people about the shutdown.
  •  Netherlands moved to digital broadcasting on 11 December, 2006. The switch-off was helped greatly by the fact that about 90% of the households have cable that continues to use analog distribution.
  •  Finland ceased terrestrial transmissions nationwide at 4am, September 1, 2007[1] (switch-off was previously planned for the midnight after August 31 but a few extra hours were added for technical reasons). Cable TV viewers continued to receive analog broadcasts until the end of February 2008.
  •  Sweden: The switch-off of the analog terrestrial network progressed region–by–region. It started on the island of Gotland on 15 September 2005, and was completed on 29 October, 2007, when the last analogue SVT1 transmitters in Scania and Blekinge were shut down. [3] Cable distributors are allowed to continue broadcasting analog television.


Switch-off in progress

  •  Belgium: the situation is rather complex, as media regulations are under regional legislation. The Flemish region has announced that it will switch analog television off on December 31, 2008, because coverage is already at 99 percent. The Wallonian Region has not yet announced a date and is expected to follow the European dates because the geographic difficulties to cover the whole region. In Wallonia there is already an 80 percent DTT coverage.
  •  Czech Republic started the switch-off in September 2007 and should finish by September 2010. A broadcast law amendment which would change this is awaiting approval. The areas of Brno, Domažlice and Ústí nad Labem have already switched off.
  •  Denmark began digital transmission in March 2006 and the analog net will be closed at the end of October 2009.[citation needed]
  •  France will have completed the switch-off in 2011. 80% of the population will be able to see TNT in 2008.
  •  Germany started the switch-off in the Berlin area, beginning on 1 November 2002 and completing on 4 August 2003. It has also been completed in Bremen and Hamburg. "Simulcast" digital transmissions have started in other parts of the country, in an effort to prepare for a full switchover. The switch-off is planned to be completed by the end of 2008.
  •  Norway: The switch-off started in late 2007 and will finish by 2009.
  •  United Kingdom: (see also Digital switchover in the United Kingdom). The first switchoff of analog television was on 30 March 2005, in the villages of Llansteffan and Ferryside in Wales. However, it was partially unsuccessful as residents insisted that BBC Two Wales be left broadcasting in analog as they felt that the digital replacement, BBC 2W, which opts out from BBC Two from 20:30 to 22:00 on weekdays, shows too much Welsh programming[6] The switch-off of all analog terrestrial TV broadcasts resumed again on October 17 2007 with Whitehaven in Cumbria[7] and will now proceed region by region. The last regions will be switched off in 2012. [2]. In the UK, the free-to-air digital broadcasts are known as Freeview.
  •  Australia: The Australian government originally planned a switch-off in 2008. This has now been delayed to 2009 for metro areas and to 2013 for the regions. [8] [9] Until that time, free-to-air stations will be simulcast, along with digital only channels like ABC2. Since 1999, legislation has required all locally made free-to-air television transmissions to be in 16:9 widescreen format. Cable television networks began simulcasting in 2004 and analog cable services were switched off in April 2007.
  •  Bulgaria will complete its the switch-off will in December 2012.
  •  Canada: The main FTA broadcasters (CBC, CTV, and Global) have launched HD streams of their programming. Originally, unlike in the other countries, Canada was allowing the market to determine when the analog switch-off begins. As a result, currently analog and digital broadcasts co-exist, with virtually the only way to receive digital TV via cable or satellite TV. However, in some urban areas like Toronto, it is also possible to pick up DTV over the air. As of May 2007 there are fewer than 20 digital television stations in Canada. On May 17 2007, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC, Canada's broadcasting authority) ruled that television stations would indeed be forced to switch to ATSC digital broadcasting by 31 August 2011, although exceptions may be made where analog transmissions will not cause interference (e.g. remote areas). [10] (Wikinews)
  •  Greece: the switch-off will complete after the end of 2010. [3].
  •  Hong Kong's analog broadcasting is planned to be switched off by 2012.[11]
  •  Hungary is scheduled to switch off analog broadcasting between 2010 and 2013.
  •  Ireland's broadcaster RTE plans to make digital television available to most of the population by 2010 [4], and the switchoff is planned to be complete by 2012[5].
  •  Italy's government aims to complete the digital switchover by 2012.
  •  Japan: Japan is also running an intense nationwide campaign announcing the planned switchover to digital on July 24, 2011. Many television stations around the country are already broadcasting simultaneously in digital, or are planning to start digital broadcasts by 2007.
  •  Kenya's Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) announced that the country will start digital broadcasting in 2008 following preliminary work by the government. Kenya will be among the first countries in Africa to implement digital broadcasting. [12].
  •  Mexico has a 20-year plan to switch, with the target year of 2022 for the analog shut-off.
  •  Malaysia: Information Ministry was planning to shut down the country's analog television system in phases beginning from 2009 and set to convert to full digital TV in 2015.
  •  New Zealand: It was announced on the 29 November 2007 that the analog TV broadcasts will end within the next 6 to 10 years and expect a switch off date to be announced by 2012. Digital broadcast via Free View become available late 2007.
  •  Norway: The switch-off of the analog transmissions started in March 2008 and will the progress region-by-region. The last analog transmitters are scheduled to close down by the end of 2009.
  •  Portugal's government aims to complete the digital switchover by 2012, although digital broadcasts will only start in 2008.
  •  Russia has announced that the switch-off is to be completed in 2015[13].
  •  Slovakia: the government aims to complete the digital switchover by 2012.
  •  Slovenia: the switch-off will be completed in 2010.
  •  United States: By no later than February 17, 2009, all full-power [15] U.S. television broadcasts will be exclusively digital, and analog transmissions will be terminated, by order of the Federal Communications Commission, with legislation setting this deadline signed into law in early 2006.[16] Furthermore, starting March 1, 2007, new television sets that receive signals over-the-air, including pocket sized portable televisions, must include digital tuners (for HD or SD broadcasts, or both).[17] Currently, most U.S. broadcasters are beaming their signals in both analog and digital formats; a few are digital-only. Citing the bandwidth efficiency of digital TV, after the analog switch-off the FCC will auction off channels 52-69 (the lower half of the 700 MHz band) for other communications traffic[18], completing the reallocation of broadcast channels 52–69 that began in the late 1990s. To assist consumers through the conversion, the U.S. government will take requests from households for up to two $40 coupons for digital-to-analog converter boxes[19] beginning January 1, 2008 via a toll free number or a website.[20][21] However, these government coupons are limited to an initial sum of $890 million (22,250,000 coupons) with the option to grow to $1.34 billion (33,500,000 coupons) [22], which is far short of the estimated 112 million households in the United States. [23], although reports indicate 1 in 2 households already has a digital TV.[24]
    • For U.S. cable television, the FCC voted 5-0 on September 12, 2007 to require operators to make local broadcasts available to their users, even those with analog television. This requirement lasts until 2012, when the FCC will review the case again.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Digi-tv esillä ympäri maata". Finnish Ministry of Communications. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
  2. ^ "Andorra fa el salt a la TDT". Vilaweb. {{cite web}}: Text "(in catalan)" ignored (help)
  3. ^ "Historisk övergång till digital-tv" (Press release). Teracom. October 15, 2007.
  4. ^ Cassia, Fernando (2007-12-02). ""Brazil starts HDTV transmissions". The Enquirer. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-12-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Conheça os planos das emissoras para a TV digital" (in Portuguese). G1. 2007-11-13. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-11-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "First UK homes go digital TV only". BBC News. 2007-03-15. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
  7. ^ "First digital TV switch date set". BBC News. 2007-03-15. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
  8. ^ Complete digital TV switch over by 2013, Sydney Morning Herald, 2007-12-18, retrieved 2008-2-29 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); External link in |author-link= (help); Text "Communications Minister Stephen Conroy says he has taken the first firm steps to ensure the switch over to digital TV is completed by the end of 2013." ignored (help)
  9. ^ Conroy sets 2013 for digital switch | The Australian
  10. ^ "Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2007-53: Determinations regarding certain aspects of the regulatory framework for over-the-air television". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2007-05-17. Retrieved 2007-07-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Digital TV". Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  12. ^ Business Daily, December 14, 2007: Kenyans to switch to digital TVs
  13. ^ Мининформсвязи / Концепция федеральной целевой программы «Развитие телерадиовещания в Российской Федерации (2007-2015 годы)»
  14. ^ Template:Es Disposición adicional primera del Real Decreto 944/2005, de 29 de julio, published in BOE del 30 de julio
  15. ^ "The DTV Transition and LPTV/Class A/Translator Stations". Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  16. ^ Section 3002 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109–171 (text) (PDF), 120 Stat. 4, enacted February 8, 2006) amending the Communications Act of 1934, section 309(j)(14), codified at 47 U.S.C. § 309(j)(14).
  17. ^ "FCC rule requires all new TVs to be digital". The Boston Globe. 2007-02-26. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
  18. ^ "FCC: Wireless Services: Lower 700 MHz". Federal Communications Commission. 2004-10-28. Retrieved 2007-05-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ National Telecommunications and Information Administration - U.S. Department of Commerce (2007). "Preparing for the Digital Television Transition" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-05-12. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  20. ^ http://www.dtv2009.gov Digital Transition website Access date= 2007-12-31
  21. ^ National Telecommunications & Information Administration
  22. ^ "Rules to Implement and Administer a Coupon Program for Digital-to-Analog Converter Boxes, Section II, Part A, Paragraph 9" (PDF). Federal Register, Vol 72, No 50, March 15, 2007, Page 12,097-12,121. Retrieved 2007-12-23. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  23. ^ "Projections of the Number of Households and Families in the United States: 1995 to 2010" (PDF). U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, Bureau of the Census. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  24. ^ CEA: Press Release Detail - Press Release Detail
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