Advanced Television

Sardinia to switch to DTT in November

October 3, 2007

From Branislav Pekic in Rome

From November 10, Italy's leading national broadcasters RAI, Mediaset and Telecom Italia Media will extend their digital transmissions to the entire island of Sardinia.

DTT tests were launched in March in Cagliari which saw each of the three broadcasters transmitting one of their channels (Rai Due, Rete4 and Qoob) exclusively in digital technology. There are plans to extend the analogue switch-off tests in the Northern Italian regions of Trentino Alto Adige and Piedmont, with the goal of a full national migration to digital by 2012.

In a related development, the Italian government has announced it will not extend the E200 tax break for new digital set-top boxes bought for second TV sets while extending it to subscribers of all satellite and cable television providers. The change follows a July European antitrust ruling that making subscribers of only some operators eligible for the tax break distorted competition.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTT/DSO