The French media authority CSA has now published the timetable for the switchover to digital terrestrial television. As the publication comes late, there is a delay in the process, with the first complete analogue switch-off happening in November 2009.
The CSA regrets the delay, blaming it on the fact that the final timetable was subject to government approval, which also came late. Early next year, two pilot regions – Coulommiers and Kaysesberg – will test the switch-over process.
The transition to digital will take place in less than 26 months at a rate of nearly one region per month. The schedule will now run as follows: November 2009: the area of Cherbourg; 1st quarter 2010: Alsace, Basse-Normandie and Lorraine; 2nd quarter 2010: Pays de Loire, Champagne-Ardenne, Franche-Comte and Brittany; 3rd quarter 2010: Poitou-Charente; 4th quarter 2010: Burgundy, Center, Picardie and Nord; 1st quarter 2011: Haute-Normandie, Ile-de-France, Aquitaine; 2nd quarter 2011: Limousin, Cote d’Azur, Corsica, Auvergne; 3rd quarter 2011: Alps, Rhone; 4th quarter 2011: Midi-Pyrenees, Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence.
