Unanimous call to extend DTT reset deadline
December 4, 2014
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Several of Spain’s trade bodies – namely the private TV Association Uteca, the Regional TV Association FORTA, the Installers Federation Fenitel and the Consumers Association and the domestic broadcasting agency Abertis Telecom – have unanimously urged the government to extend by three months the initial December 31st deadline to complete the DTT migration enabling TV operators to simulcast their transmissions both in their current 800 Mhz band and in their new frequencies.
They say they aim to prevent between 2 and 4 million households from losing their TV signals as the DTT reset is not likely to be completed by December 31st. By the end of October, only 83,066 buildings, representing less than 10 per cent of the total (1 million buildings, with 13 million homes), had been re-tuned.
It is estimated by telco installers that by the end of December the DTT reset will reach 50 per cent of the total, thus “significantly limiting the access to TV of several million of citizens throughout Spain”.
Lack of time to execute the DTT reset, plus a lack of necessary equipment to adapt the aerials, will make it essentially impossible to meet the December deadline, according to the installers.