The Polish public broadcaster TVP has officially started trialling a FTA DTH platform delivered by Astra.
It has extended its capacity for the use of two transponders at Astra’s main position of 19.2 degrees East, having used the capacity since 2005, and under the terms of the new contract will employ a spot beam on Astra 1KR. The use of a spot beam will allow TVP to transmit FTA rather than free-to-view as it restricts reception of the signal to Poland, at least in theory.
TVP’s platform will initially offer all its proprietary channels (TVP1, TVP2, TVP Info, TVP Sport, TVP Kultura, TVP Historia and TVP HD), along with public radio stations. There will also be a paid element to the DTH platform once it is fully up and running.
More details about the platform, expected to make its full debut before the end of the year, are being provided in a press conference being given today by TVP.
In a separate development, Gazeta Wyborcza reports that the incumbent telco Telekomunikacja Polska (TP) has plans to launch its own, fully-fledged DTH platform on October 1. It already operates a satellite-delivered service in conjunction with Cyfra+ and such a move could mark a break between the two companies, backed by France Telecom (TP) and Vivendi Universal (Canal+). Broadband TV News was unable to reach TP for a comment.
