Media Broadcast, the DVB-T network operator, has called for the implementation of WRC-12 to be interrupted as it jeopardises the future of the transmission mode.
The company is forcefully arguing for a preservation of the status quo in the digital terrestrial sector. “This necessarily means long-term forecasts for the availability of broadcast frequencies that are currently used for digital terrestrial broadcast transmissions.”
Media Broadcast says that following a decision in Geneva at the end of the WRC Global Broadcast Conference, these are partially imperiled. Beginning in 2015, just under a third of the spectrum that is currently used for DVB-T terrestrial television (694-790 MHz) could also be assigned in parallel to mobile communications.
“In the opinion of many market players, this clearly endangers the prospects for the development of DVB-T. In addition, the interference-free reception of digital antenna televisions is thus further threatened.
“Innovation requires planning reliability. Strong statements about the long-term use of current broadcast frequencies are therefore urgently needed,” explained Bernd Kraus, CEO of Media Broadcast. “We call upon European institutions, the Federal Government and the German regions not to implement the WRC-12 conclusions regarding broadcast frequencies. With the agreements they have concluded in Geneva, the signatories are taking a hatchet to the roots of the digital terrestrial sector.”
The available spectrum of frequencies was already trimmed at broadcasters’ expense in 2009. Thus, with Digital Dividend I, around 20% of the broadcast frequencies were rededicated to mobile communication in Germany. In this process, broadcasters have already made a significant contribution to the German Federal Government’s broadband strategy.
Nonetheless, the current LTE development, which was enabled by the Digital Dividend I, took place at a considerably slower pace than had originally been scheduled. In addition, the enduring open interference issues created by LTE in cable networks causes uncertainties for DVB-T receivers and radio microphones.
In a statement, Media Broadcast, continues: “A further mutilation of the spectrum of frequencies at the expense of broadcasters would therefore be biased and inappropriate in every respect: DVB-T is a major element in the digital television programme broadcasting, as is evidenced by regular programme creations and contracts extensions. DVB-T allows television viewers to receive the most wide-ranging variety of TV channels at a low-cost, including portable or on a mobile. An additional loss of frequencies in accordance with WRC-12 would not only be unacceptable from the point of view of consumers—it would also go against the competition infrastructure current regulatory policy is aiming at.”
