The digitalisation process in Slovakia has ground to a complete standstill following a controversial court ruling.
According to Digimedia, the licensing procedure for the country’s first two DTT multiplexes has been blocked by the Bratislava District Court following a protest by Telecom Corp, a company that has been undertaking DTT trails in Kosice.
Telecom Corp maintains that the procedure, which is being undertaken by the Telecom Office (TU SR), has laid out conditions that are biased against certain candidates. It claims the requirement to use MPEG-4 compression, puts current analogue broadcasters at a disadvantage.
The TU SR has issued a written statement saying that the court’s action, which it will appeal against, threatens Slovakia’s chances of meeting its ASO target of 2012.
It announced a DTT tender for the two multiplexes on August 20 and had been inviting bids up to November 20.
