Advanced Television

Broadcasters call for EU DTT spectrum recognition

April 30, 2015

By Colin Mann

Lobbying group Broadcast Network Europe (BNE), under the banner of the Wider Spectrum Group, has sent a Letter to President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, as well as to Vice-President  Andrus Ansip and Commissioner Günther Oettinger in order to call for recognition in the upcoming Digital Single Market communication of the crucial role spectrum plays for Terrestrial Broadcasting alongside wireless and mobile broadband.
 
BNE, as part of the Wider Spectrum Group, is calling on the European Commission  to provide long-term legal certainty for sufficient spectrum to be made available for the Terrestrial Broadcasting Service in Europe.
According to the group, the reported draft communication on the Digital Single Market shows little reference to the work done by the High Level Group guided by Pascal Lamy who concluded that the DTT represents the backbone of the EU audio-visual model and which report concluded that there is a strong socio-economic case for co-existence between Terrestrial Broadcasting and Mobile Broadband Services.

BNE highlights the possible consequences for this creative sector which is currently one of the EU top three sectors by growth and employment.

Commenting on that initiative, Lars Backlund, Secretary General for BNE declared  “Broadcast Networks Europe members invest in state of the art digital infrastructures for Europe. DTT is the leading platform for TV distribution in Europe and plays a key role in the European audiovisual ecosystem, a major jobs contributing sector. It is time to take into account those dimensions in the Digital Single Market strategy, building on the Lamy Report conclusions.”

 

 

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTT/DSO, Policy, Regulation