Portugal: DTT frequency migration to cost under €4m
November 9, 2020
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
The total cost of the migration of DTT services in Portugal to free up the 700 MHz frequencies necessary for the rollout of 5G mobile technology will cost less than €4 million.
The estimate was given by the President of the National Communications Authority (Anacom), João Cadete de Matos, who pointed out that the cost will be “substantially lower” than the sum proposed by DTT network operator Altice Portugal at the beginning of the process.
He recalled that Altice Portugal initially proposed a cost of €25 million and that the migration would be done in “simulcast”, maintaining in parallel both the old and new frequencies, which would have delayed the process.
According to Anacom, 75 per cent of the DTT network transmitters have already changed frequency, corresponding to 184 out of a total of 243.
In order to comply with the schedule, the regulator also announced that the last 35 Rhode & Schwarz transmitters in Continental Portugal, at the company’s own suggestion, are being remotely retuned.