Telephone calls to the helpline set up to assist Finnish viewers in the transition to digital television suffered serious congestion on Saturday morning. Households in Finland woke up to find analogue television was no more and called the helpline established by the transmission company Digita.
After a quiet start, the number of calls to the helpline rose significantly, and calls times increased from a few minutes to ten to 15 minutes. The amount of calls soon blocked the lines as people who have left their conversion to the last minute rang for free advice.
Callers also reported blocking on the pictures of public broadcaster YLE, though the cause is just as likely to be an ill fitting cable, than anything serious with the transmission itself.
A side effect of Finland’s switch to digital is the loss of reception by around 40,000 viewers in neighbouring Estonia. The Baltic country will not complete its switch to digital for another four years.
