The digital dividend, a new challenge for digital television

The Broadcast IT Technical Conference, which brings together a qualified team of professionals and experts in the different subjects to be discussed, has begun by analyzing the situation of the digital dividend with the presence of Antonio Fernández – Paniagua (SETSI) and Elena Puigrefagut (EBU / UER).

The International Professional Exhibition of Audiovisual Technology is the setting where, every two years, professionals from the broadcast sector meet to discuss the issues that most affect this industry. The General Director of Telecommunications and Information Technologies, Roberto Sánchez; the president of the Broadcast Organizing Committee, Rogelio de la Fuente; and the director of the fair, Santiago Quiroga, have been in charge of opening these days.

On this occasion and on the occasion of the fifteenth edition of Broadcast, the first issue to be discussed was the current situation and prospects for the process of applying the digital dividend. The table has been presented by Eladio Gutiérrez, a consultant in telecommunications and audiovisual media, who has reviewed the program of the Technical Conferences and explained that this first conference aims to address the digital dividend from the vision in Spain and from a European point of view, since "it is a coordinated process of European level," said the former president of Impulsa TDT.

The role of the Administration

From the point of view of the Administration, Antonio Fernández-Paniagua, deputy director general of Planning and Management of the Radio Spectrum of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, has provided an overview of the situation of the digital dividend in Spain, exposing the process of distributing the frequencies of the radio spectrum between 790 and 862 MHz (channels 61-69), which will be dedicated to new television services (mobile, HD, interactive…), and mobile broadband communications.

"The Government, through Royal Decree 365/2010, regulated the allocation of DTT multiplexes after the cessation of analogue, establishing two phases. In the first phase, four new multiplexes would be planned, and one regional multiplex, below the 790-862MHz band, ensuring that they are the old analogue channels. In a second phase, which would conclude before January 2015, we would have new national and regional multiplexes, all of them working below channel 61, so each operator would have full control over each of its multiples. Although the deadline is set on January 1, 2015, we will try to bring it forward as much as possible, although everything depends on the re-antennaization and simulcast phase,” Fernández-Paniagua assured.

The dividend challenge

For her part, Elena Puigrefagut, senior engineer at the EBU, has reviewed the situation of the 800 MHz band in Europe, highlighting that there are still 72% of the frequencies available for DTT. According to Puigrefagut, the drive for the liberalization of channels 61 to 68 has been very different in each country, "and the case of Spain is one of the most critical, because while in our country 44% of the frequencies are assigned to DTT, in the United Kingdom or Sweden there are only 6-7% and in France 12%," he stated. Likewise, the EBU representative highlighted that "there are still 17 countries in Europe with analogue TV and 3 do not even have an analogue blackout plan."

Puigrefagut has also highlighted that "to keep DTT competitive it must offer a certain diversity of programs and maintain reception quality, and for this we need spectrum, six or seven multiples to be competitive with cable or satellite." "The 470-862 MHz band has been used until now to offer a public service, but the business models to offer broadband Internet for mobility are mainly commercial, not to cover, for example, rural areas. To guarantee 'broadband for all' it must be considered in a much broader context without limiting ourselves to the discussion of the digital dividend, with other frequencies, fiber deployment...", he concluded in his speech.