SITDT: technical support to town councils on DTT

Impulsa TDT and the Official College of Telecommunications Engineers sign a collaboration agreement that contemplates the provision of an advisory and technical support service that will resolve the doubts of city councils and other public entities in the field of the transition to DTT and will guide them in making technological decisions.

A specialized information service, made up of telecommunications engineers, will guide municipalities and other public entities on any technical matter related to the transition to DTT. This is one of the initiatives that will be launched as a result of the agreement signed by Impulsa TDT and the Official College of Telecommunications Engineers.

In this way, it seeks to disseminate good practices among the Administration in the transition process to DTT and guide public entities on the best way to complete actions such as the adaptation of facilities, acquisition of equipment, etc. In addition to advising city councils and providing a specialized technical consulting service, the SITDT Information Service, made up of telecommunications engineers, will prepare technical reports on individual cases.

The SITDT, which has already had a two-month pilot experience, will allow the specific doubts raised by the municipalities to be resolved in technical matters such as the extension of terrestrial coverage, the satellite option that guarantees the universality of the service of the DTT programs, etc. It will also collaborate in receiving incidents such as: possible quality problems, existence of shadow areas, etc., thus ensuring the correct arrival of DTT to each of the thousands of Spanish municipalities.

Eladio Gutierrez, president of Impulsa TDT, has pointed out that "the SITDT was born as a high-level technical support between the municipalities and the different agents involved in the transition to DTT. Our objective is that in each and every one of the Spanish localities everything necessary is available to enjoy DTT as soon as possible, and the fastest and most effective way to reach all the homes in a municipality is usually through the City Council itself."

For his part, Francisco Mellado, Dean-President of the COIT, added that "the COIT feels especially pleased to contribute to the success of this key moment that represents the final process of the transition to Digital Terrestrial Television, a process in which it is up to us telecommunications engineers to be the reference professionals" and added that "services like the SITDT allow us to make effective our reason for being as a College: to serve society through our commitment to telecommunications."

SITDT: information to town councils and other entities

The TDT Information Service will have two ways to respond to queries: you can contact them by telephone through the number 902 10 22 16, where the responses from the town councils will be resolved; and by email at sitdt@coit.es, where queries from local entities will mainly be responded to, although the service will also be extended to other organizations such as Federations of Municipalities, Boards, Associations...

Thanks to the collaboration of the SETSI National Transition Office, which will provide specific documentation on the process and with which constant coordination will be maintained, it is ensured that the SITDT has the necessary and perfectly updated information at all times.

The DTT Information Service will be in operation until May 31, 2010, almost two months after the definitive cessation of analogue broadcasts, thus allowing us to address all doubts and incidents that may arise after the analogue shutdown on April 3rd.