SES: Spain DTT migration will cause interference
June 11, 2012
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The DTT migration to new frequencies to be started in September (and to be completed before January 2014) to allocate the so-called digital dividend will cause interference to the digital signals, according to SES Astra.
The Business Director of the Spanish subsidiary of the Luxembourg-based company SES, SES Astra Iberica, Miguel Pingarrón, has warned that it is likely that some channels are received with interference, which will oblige users to buy filters incurring new costs in addition to those they will have to pay to adapt their antennas. It is estimated that around 1.4 homes will have to re-adapt their antennas.
The company has urged the Administration to remain neutral concerning the technology to be used to have access to DTT and allow viewers to freely choose it either via terrestrial, satellite or cable. For the General Director of SES Astra Iberica, Luis Sahún, the preferential treatment given in Spain to the terrestrial distribution to the detriment of satellite and cable “is a political matter more than a professional plan”. He regretted that in the first analogue switch-off in 2010 satellite and cable technologies were relegated to a second place as their use “would have avoided new costs”. He said that DTT preferential treatment does not exist in other European countries such as France with 5 million users with DTT through satellite or the UK with two million; whereas in Spain, only 36,000 users enjoy DTT through a satellite dish.