Portugal Telecom reveals €3.1m on DTT subsidies
September 6, 2013
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Portugal’s National Communications Authority (Anacom) has revealed that PT Comunicações (PTC), the company responsible for the introduction of DTT in the country, has spent about €3.1 million on individual support for the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial.
In total, almost 57,000 people benefited from the programmes, with subsidies for the purchase of 46,914 satellite decoders. The figures were revealed after a dispute between PTC and Anacom on whether to disclose or not the amount of support, as the former invoked the “confidential character” of data.
Currently only a reimbursement programme is available, exclusively targeted at people living in areas of satellite coverage (DTH). PTC is obliged to provide a payment of €47 per satellite decoder until 2023 (a maximum of two per household), as long as those requesting the subsidy do not subscribe to a pay-TV service.