DTT Sees Gains in Europe

STRASBOURG: By the end of this year, DTT services will be up and running in all but one of the EU member states (Romania), according to new research from the European Audiovisual Observatory.

This year will see eight European countries completing the analogue switchoff, so by year end most of the continent should have active DTT platforms. The digital transition has already been completed in Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Currently, DTT services are available in 19 European countries (14 EU member states). In eight European countries, DTT services are delivering HD channels: France, Italy, Spain, the U.K., Norway, Hungary, Estonia and Lithuania. HD services are due to be launched in Sweden and Finland late this year or early next.

The number of national and international channels available to DTT households has increased to more than 760, of which 345 are on free-to-air platforms and 415 are on pay DTT platforms. Pay DTT services are available in 14 EU countries: Germany, the U.K., Italy, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden, as well as in Iceland, Albania, Norway, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Switzerland. Pay DTT has been canceled or postponed in several countries, including Cyprus, Portugal and Ireland. The DTT rollout has also been delayed in Romania due to the cancellation of the DTT tenders.