The Finnish Council of State has granted Digita licences for the terrestrial television broadcasting network, which in effect extends the current situation. Digita received all three licences to provide network services in multiplexes A, B and C of the digital terrestrial broadcasting network. The operating licences are for the period starting on September 1, 2010 and ending on December 31, 2016. The licences cover mainland Finland.
Digita said in a statetement to be pleased with the decision. “This way, the situation will not change from the consumers’ point of view, nor will consumers incur extra costs from aerial replacements, as all multiplexes will be broadcast from the same transmission stations. Furthermore, maintaining an integrated service means that the complicated frequency division of existing multiplexes can be used as efficiently as possible.”
Part of the Digita offer is their DVB-H network, with at the moment only one operator offering subscriptions, but the network is also open to other service providers. DNA is currently the only service operator in Finland to offer TV broadcasts to its mobile phone customers. Real TV broadcasting to mobile phones is available for a fixed monthly fee of €7.90.
Of YLE’s programmes, the Finnish and foreign content of the YLE TV1 and YLE TV2 channels can be viewed on the mobile TV network, while in terms of radio channels, YleX and YLE Radio1 are both available. The MTV channels that can be viewed on the mobile TV network are MTV3, Sub and the image radio channel Nova. Mobile TV also provides access to the TV channel The Voice and the image radio channels Iskelmä and The Voice.
More than two million Finns can already watch mobile TV. Optimised for personal, mobile receiving, the network covers the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and its adjacent municipalities, and large parts of the regions of Tampere, Oulu, Turku and Salo. In terms of the major shopping centres, indoor coverage of the mobile TV network has been completed at Jumbo in Vantaa, Sello in Espoo, and Ideapark, among others.
