Broadcast executives have written to Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, accusing Europe of ignoring Pascal Lamy’s findings on digital terrestrial television.
The letter from Broadcast Network Europe (BNE), under the banner of the Wider Spectrum Group, calls for recognition in the upcoming Digital Single Market communication of the role spectrum plays forTerrestrial Broadcasting alongside wireless and mobile broadband.
“Broadcast Networks Europe (BNE) members invest in state of the art digital infrastructures for Europe. Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) is the leading platform for TV distribution in Europe and plays a key role in the European audiovisual ecosystem, a major jobs contributing sector. It is time to take into account those dimensions in the Digital Single Market strategy, building on the Lamy Report conclusions,” said Lars Backlund, Secretary General for BNE.
Fears that the Commission was leaning heavily towards the telecoms sector followed a reported draft communication on the Digital Single Market showing little reference to Lamy’s work.
The High Level Group chaired by former European Commissioner and WTO Director General Pascal Lamy looked at future use of the UHF spectrum band between 470 to 790MHz. It said: “the EU should adopt a common position against the co-primary allocation of the core audiovisual band (470-694MHz) to the mobile service at WRC 2015”.
