Italy plans 15 DTT multiplexes
July 16, 2018
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Italy’s National Communications Authority (AgCOM) has published the National Plan for the Allocation of Digital Terrestrial TV Frequencies (PNAF 2018).
A total of 10 national multiplexes in the UHF band are planned, as well as 4 local multiplexes in the UHF band in each technical area (5 local networks in technical areas 3 and 13); and a regional multiplex in the III VHF band.
Several regulatory constraints were taken into account during the creating of the Plan, including the use of the most advanced standards for the most efficient use of the spectrum; exclusive planning of the frequencies attributed to Italy by international agreements in each coordination area; and the planning of the III VHF band on the basis of the 2006 Geneva Agreement.
In addition, the Plan aims to create a regional multiplex; maximise the number of blocks that can be allocated in each region to digital radio; exclude frequencies in the III VHF and 470-694 MHz bands that are not assigned internationally to Italy; and reserve one-third of the transmission capacity for local broadcasters.
The digital TV broadcasts will use the DVB-T2 standard with 256 QAM modulation and the capacity of a multiplex will be 40 Mbit/s.