22
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ISSUE 2 2014
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THE CHANNEL
As a technology, television has led a relatively calm life in its nearly 100 year history.
There were few changes: notably black and white to colour in the 50’s, mono to stereo
sound in the 70’s, and these changes have been introduced with minimum fuss to
broadcasters and viewers. This time going from analogue to digital, things are
different! Here Pham Nhu Hai, Counsellor at the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) paints the broad picture of the transition to DTT in different regions of the
ith an estimated
5bn+ TV sets
in our homes
around the
world, television
plays an
important
social, economic and political role
in our lives and societies. Going
from analogue to digital television
is not just a technological change
but an economic revolution.
Digitisation brings fundamental
changes to the TV ecosystem
through exponential increases in
the capacity of broadcast platform,
reduction of the costs of both
production and distribution of
contents and increase in the range
of format from portable, mobile, 3D
and Ultra High definition images.
One TV channel used to carry
only one analogue TV programme;
with digital technology and the
latest signal compression
techniques, the same channel may
carry 20 or more TV programmes.
The flexible digital signal is capable
of accommodating additional new
interactive (eVote, eHealth,
eGovernment) and accessibility
(subtitling, audio commentaries or
signing) services.
As a result, introduction of
digital TV changes the TV
ecosystem in all aspects including
government regulations, content
production and market structure.
More importantly, the change from
analogue to digital TV will make
available substantial radio-
frequency spectrum, widely
referred to as digital dividends,
which can be used by other
radiocommunication services, such
as mobile, wireless broadband,
emergency services, etc. This brings
substantial economic and social
benefits, not to mention significant
amount of revenues for the
government coffers from auctioning
off these valuable pieces of spectrum.
In the face of increasing demand
from viewers for multimedia
content of technical quality whether
they are at home or on the move,
and increasing demand for radio
spectrum from other services – in
particular mobile wireless
broadband – for governments the
question is no longer whether to
migrate to digital TV or not, the
question is when & how to migrate
and more importantly, how the
digital dividend spectrum will be
used and for what services.
TAKING STOCK
The migration from analogue to
digital TV is a costly and difficult
process. To ensure success, all
parties that are affected by the
changes must be involved and
consulted. Governments need to
revise existing broadcasting and
radiocommunication laws and
regulations. Spectrum management
authorities need to assign
frequency channels to new DTT
stations while ensuring protection
of existing and new digital services
in their own and neighbours’
countries from interference.
Broadcasters need to upgrade
transmitting facilities and the
transmission network. The most
important task is to keep the public
informed throughout the whole
process to ensure that their TV
reception is not disrupted.
W
WHEREAREWENOW?
There are
common
threads
that appear
in the
lessons
learned
“
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DSO
