A joint public consultation by Portugal’s Communications Authority (Anacom) and the Regulatory Authority for the Media (ERC) on Digital Terrestrial Television will start in January 2014, Anacom president Fatima Barros has confirmed.

The two bodies are currently gathering intelligence in order to proceed with the public consultation. The objective is to gather information about what the market thinks about the future of DTT, including whether there is interest in increasing the number of free-to-air channels and some other technological issues. According to Barros, the results of this public consultation will be made public “during the first quarter” of next year.

Meanwhile, Anacom will install up to 400 probes in parts of Portugal by the end of next summer to “make continuous measurement” of the DTT signals. The pilot phase will launch before the end of this month, with four probes. According to Anacom administrator Jose Perdigoto, the regulator currently receives between 200 and 300 monthly complaints regarding DTT, although “10-15 per cent are requests for information.”

DTT network operator Portugal Telecom currently covers 92 per cent of the population with a terrestrial network, while the remaining 8 per cent coverage is secured by satellite.

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