New delay for Polish DTT

The likelihood of Poland meeting its current ASO target date of July 31, 2013 appears to be receding.

Rzeczpospolita reports that representatives of the public broadcaster TVP failed to show up at a meeting on digitalisation this Tuesday (November 10), saying they would need until December 8 to consider their situation.

Although Poland’s first DTT multiplex was launched at the end of September, it is still officially operating on a trial basis. Four of the five channels carried by the multiplex – Polsat, TVN, TV4 and TV Puls – have signed an agreement with the operator Emitel, but TVP has failed to do so.

What is more, to sign such an agreement it may have to initiate a tender process which could take up to a year to complete.

Comprehensive agreements between the channels and operator are required before the first multiplex can be considered fully operational, although Polsat, TVN, TV4 and TV Puls already consider it to have such a status. However, Emitel needs these agreements before it can start investing in the roll out of the service, which is at present available in only four locations.

One option may be to move TVP’s services onto the second multiplex, a tender for which will soon be launched.

They will eventually be carried by a third multiplex.