The European Parliament’s industry committee has voted to maintain digital terrestrial television in the sub 700MHz band until at least 2030.
It’s an additional two years for television that has been lobbying to maintain its position against the might of the telcos and the drive towards mobile broadband.
Broadcasters have already left the 800MHz UHF Band with frequencies being handed over to the mobile sector. The 700MHz UHF Band will be cleared by 2022 with only sub 700-MHz UHF frequencies available for DTT.
EBU Deputy Head of European Affairs Wouter Gekiere said: “We welcome the Committee’s move to better take into account the needs of broadcasting and its request to ensure legal certainty for DTT services in the sub-700 MHz frequencies until 2030. This is crucial for broadcasters, their audiences and the European cultural and creative industries.”
He added: “There is however still scope to improve the draft during the EU interinstitutional negotiations and ensure that this request for long-term legal certainty is reflected consistently across the legislation. EU legislation should fully reflect the decision of the 2015 ITU World Radio Conference to retain the bands below 700 MHz for broadcasting use.”
DTT remains the most popular way of watching TV in Europe, reaching over half of Europe’s population.
