Advanced Television

Public consultation for Spanish DTT coverage

January 31, 2014

From David Del Valle in Madrid

The Spanish government has launched a public consultation initiative to study DTT coverage in isolated areas in light of possible new tenders to extend the DTT service to 100 per cent of the country through different distribution platforms (cable, satellite or IPTV).

The move comes at a time when the European Commission has recently ruled that the €236 million financial aid given by the Administration to certain operators (mainly Abertis Telecom) to extend DTT to isolated areas was in breach of the European law and the technological neutrality principle as argued SES Astra in its lawsuit. As a result, Spain has requested the money back with the DTT service in those areas running the risk of blackout.

The government has asked the European Commission for more time to get the funds back, claiming a transition period to guarantee DTT coverage. With this public consultation, the Spanish Administration aims to picture a new DTT map in terms of DTT extension getting all operators involved in the deployment of DTT services to cover those areas with geographical difficulties.

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