The transition to digital broadcasting has suffered yet another blow in Poland, with an announcement on licence awards for DTT broadcasters from the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) turned down by the Government Legislation Centre (RCL).
Quoting the latter’s president Maciej Berek, TVN.24 reports that the rejection was for “legal reasons”. The announcement is necessary for the KRRiT to kick-start the digitisation process, as only then will it be able to allocate places for TV services on multiplexes. The Office for Electronic Communications (UKE) will then provide the necessary frequencies.
However, the setback is only likely to be temporary, as the KRRiT has been in a state of flux over the last couple of months and therefore unable to function properly. Now with new members and a new head (Jan Dworak), it is likely, according to Berek, to have any new announcement on DTT licence awards accepted by the RCL.
The KRRiT and UKE have already agreed that the first multiplex will carry the public service channels TVP1, TVP2 and TVP Info, along with four new channels to be chosen by a tender.
The second multiplex will meanwhile carry Polsat, TVN, TV4 and TV Puls, with each also able to offer a second channel.
TVP1, TVP2 and TVP Info will be moved to the third multiplex once it is launched and will be replaced by thematic channels from the public broadcaster.
