French plan help with ASO

The French government has published a study on helping people living in areas not covered by digital terrestrial television. The government has already implemented a wide monitoring mechanism to ensure that all French people, wherever they live, will continue to receive television after the transition to all digital.

There will be a fund intended to help households living in areas that are not covered by DTT and who now depend on analogue television reception. These households will benefit from a subsidy for the purchase and installation of satellite reception equipment, or any other solution in order to achieve technological neutrality.

A technical assistance facility for the benefit of households with elderly or disabled people, this service is intended to help these households to connect their digital television equipment and adjust channels.

There will also be financial assistance for the equipment of households in areas covered by DTT designed for households without sufficient economic means.

The law also puts in place financial compensation to local authorities and groups who wish, beyond the reception modes available to finance the costs to install a new digital transmitter or any other solution to to ensure receipt of DTT channels in those areas that will not be covered by digital after analogue switch-off.

For people living outside the DTT coverage areas, there are two DTH free-to-view platforms available, Fransat on Eutelsat satellites and TNTSat on Astra. Both require a dedicated receiver and a smart card, but once activated, viewing is free of charge (See Broadband TV News passim for coverage of Fransat and TNTSat)

Cable operator Numericable has another option, the cabler distributes the DVB-T signal over its network as a cable lifeline service for the free-to-air terrestrial signals (see report in Broadband TV News)