Finland’s ministry of justice is to examine the possibility of encrypting DTT transmissions from the public broadcaster YLE and issuing smart cards only to those that have paid the television licence fee. The method, which could be introduced as soon as 2010, would help shore up YLE finances, which have fallen in the wake of the country’s digital switchover.
Centre Party MP Antti Kaikkonen put forward the suggestion on an article published on his party’s website. The downside is that not all the DTT receivers in the Finnish market have a smart card slot. Kaikkonen has said these homes should not be penalised further and that any equipment upgrades should come out of the licence fee.
A similar scheme is in place in neighbouring Norway, though in Sweden transmissions from SVT which were initially encrypted quickly became clear.
