German cable operator PŸUR (formerly Primacom) will commence analogue switch-off on its network on March 20, 2018.
In the town of Quedlinburg in federal state Saxony-Anhalt, more than 3,200 customers will be converted to fully digital reception with the support of local housing company Quedlinburger Wohnungswirtschaftsgesellschaft,
In addition to television, the move will also affect radio. For cable radio listeners, PŸUR will offer an FM converter, so that they can continue receiving the channels on their analogue FM stereo system. Customers can order this DVB-C radio receiver (pictured) through the telephone hotline, a PŸUR spokesman told Broadband TV News. The device costs €40.
PŸUR wants to use the capacities vacated by analogue switch-off for more HD channels, Ultra HD/4K offers and the increase of the internet speed to more than 400Mbps. The cable network will also be prepared for the deployment of new cable standard DOCSIS 3.1.
The entire analogue TV line-up will be available to cable households in digital. In addition, they will be able to receive six free-of-charge HD channels and two offers in Ultra HD quality. 17 new digital radio stations will also be carried.
A large-scale information campaign has already started to make the affected households aware of analogue switch-off including text messages on analogue TV channels, personal letters, a telephone hotline, local press releases and a dedicated website.
From the first conversion of its analogue customer base in Quedlinburg, PŸUR wants to gain experiences the company can use in the nationwide analogue switch-off.
According to the media authorities’ 2017 digitisation report, around 11% of German cable TV households still see watch analogue television; the connection rate for radio is around 3%.
