Finland has made the switch to digital TV transmissions. In the early hours of Saturday morning (September 1) the entire country was switched to the new format, rather than the phased approach adopted in other countries, including neighbouring Sweden. The first digital broadcasts were made in 2001.
There are concerns that a number of households have not fully understood what is required, a survey in mid-August found that 220,000 homes still dependent on terrestrial signals had yet to purchase an adaptor, and Finnish cable has now been given until February 2008 before it is required to convert.
The digital dividend will allow for the launch of seven new digital channels, initially in southern and central parts of the country. They are: Discovery Channel, Eurosport, KinoTV (movies), MTV3 Fakta (documentary), MTV (music), Nickelodeon and the Swedish SVT Europa.
