Spanish DTT continues to build

The number of community antennas in Spain converted for digital reception has grown sharply over the last five months.

According to the digital TV association Impulsa, the growth is as a result of the start of Phase I of the country’s digital switchover programme that will culminate in analogue switch-off (ASO) on April 3, 2010. Phase II is now underway and will run in December and January.

74% of community buildings now have antennas that have been converted for television reception. The installers federation FENITEL says that by the end of the third quarter of 2009, 816,111 community buildings were suitably equipped for digital TV, with a further 154,107 new build already complete. Work is required on another 282,500 buildings before ASO.

A further 696,000 DTT receivers were sold in September, bringing cumulative sales to almost 22.5 million tuners, representing 72.1% of homes. While IDTVs accounted for 46.8% of DTT related equipment, standalone receivers remain popular, the price for a set-top box now having fallen to below €34 for the first time.