Advanced Television

Italy: €50 subsidy for DVB-T2 compatibility

June 20, 2019

From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development has established guidelines for the provision of subsidies to buy TV sets and decoders compatible with the DVB-T2 HEVC/MPEG-4 standards.

The total budget is €151 million and the pay-out should start from November 2019, after the end of an ongoing public consultation process.

The guidelines propose that the €50 contribution be granted to Italian residents that enjoy social benefits, per household, and for the purchase of a single device by December 31st 2022 or until the allocated resources are exhausted.

In practice, this will be a discount applied by the seller on the VAT price of the TV or decoder, without the possibility of any conversion into cash if the price of the appliance purchased is less than €50.

The aid will be granted based on the principle of technological neutrality, in accordance with the European Community rules on State aid and in order to avoid any discrimination between the TV platforms potentially involved.

The equipment must be equipped with a HEVC main 10 DVB-T2 tuner, as referred to in ITU-T Recommendation H.265.

Equipment manufacturers will have to declare, under their own responsibility, the list of products that meet these technical characteristics and the Ministry, once verified compliance, will publish the list online.

The DVB-T2 roadmap will be published in the coming weeks.

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