Ukrainian DTT move criticised

The decision to encode the Ukrainian DTT service provided by Zeonbud has come in for strong criticism.

Quoted by Telekritika and Mediasat, Valentin Koval, the general manager of the channels M1 and M2 Estrada, said the move would encourage rather than prevent piracy.

Mediasat’s Alexandr Gluschenko agreed, adding that there is not one conditional access system that cannot be cracked.

He also refuted the idea that encoding would protect the market from low-quality equipment.

Ukraine’s decision to encode DTT is likely to have international implications, with foreign manufacturers having produced – and in some cases already exported – DVB-T2 receivers for free rather than encrypted viewing.

It is believed that the encoding could lead to at least some of the channels on the Zeonbud platform being offered on a paid basis.

There is as yet no indication as to which conditional access system Ukraine will use for its DTT service.

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