The Swedish Radio and Television Authority (RTVV) has said it backs the proposals of the European Commission to free up the radio spectrum after analogue switch off.
“For Sweden as a small market it can be beneficial to give receiver manufacturers predictable instructions regarding which standards will be applied on the European market, thereby achieving large scale advantages, such as lower consumer costs,” read a statement from the Swedish broadcast regulator.
However, the RTVV said the spectrum should be used to guarantee the widest possible freedom of expression and information, rather than simply optimising economic growth.
Sweden was one of the first countries to complete the analogue switchover process, switching off the final analogue transmissions in October 2007. It currently has 40 channels broadcast across five multiplexes between 470 and 790MHz.
The RTVV says that with the addition of a further two multiplexes this could increase to 70 channels, broadcast in standard definition, and coded in MPEG-4. While this could be regarded as a large amount of spectrum, the Authority points out that the development of high definition television will impose greater demands on spectrum. The RTVV does however agree with the Commission’s proposals to migrate to MPEG-4 and DVB-T2.
