Good article on Terrestrial HD

dgently

Article on the active debate in the UK on terrestrial HD

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/05/uk_hdtv_debate/

The French, as usual, feel free to just legislate the world...

watty

If you think the UK has problems, well we have avoided tham by not have ANY digit TV other than cable/MMDs.

(Satellite Digital is a foriegn service, there is no Irish Satellite TV).

Still no public plan for even starting DTT. I hope we take more notice of mainland Europe than copying Ofcom in UK.

Sponge Bob

Watty, the national development plan 2007-2013 has €4m earmarked for DTT for the whole country and they plan to spend all this on trials in 2007 and 2008.

Then what ???

byte

Then DTT for all!

(one can dream...)

dgently

watty wrote:

If you think the UK has problems,

No, I think the reason they tend to lead in these matters is that the have a good robust debate about the right way forward.

I'll admit I'm biased in seeing this as a BBC Good - Sky Bad way. Still, it's hard to deny the logic of the winged monkey Murdoch sent to represent him.

watty

Sponge Bob wrote:

Watty, the national development plan 2007-2013 has €4m earmarked for DTT for the whole country and they plan to spend all this on trials in 2007 and 2008.

Then what ???

That's not a DTT rollout plan. That's just more of the window dressing we have already
€4m is small change, As I said there is no public rollout plan. Is the €4m to do anything extra or just keep the hamsters fed on the two TX sites we have, doing next year what they have been doing this year?

taung

Given the policies of the current government I would expect that the new DTT network will not be directly funded by the government, instead it will be funded by business.

watty

That was the 1999 plan. The problem is that ITV digital collapsed and it is not obvious how to pay for all the infrastructure and then make a profit. The main channels (unlike Sky) have to be free. Without Free BBC/ITV also , almost no-one will buy the boxes. UPC & Sky have almost reached saturation on the pay TV market.

So how does a DTT operator do about 10 to 15 free channels and 40 pay channels (assuming no HD and all MPEG4, only about 15 pay channels if MPEG2) and compete even with 120 ch MMDS or basic 2 mix packs Sky (200+ channels TV 70+ channels radio) for 22 Euro? Satellite even free has about 40 decent TV and 20 decent radio channels.

At this stage the only thing that will work is a Government financed infrastructure. Somebody else can run it. Maybe Lease the pay TV muxes from the State.

taung

In addition to going against the policies of the current government it would be illegal under EU law for the Irish government to completely fund the rollout of the DTT network (since it would be giving DTT an unfair competive advantage over cable and satellite TV broadcast systems (NTL/UPC have already hinted that they will be engaging their solicitors if the government attempt anything like this)).

Also, I would not expect the DTT operator to make profits (the profits will be made by actual commercial TV stations which commission/produce/broadcast TV programmes).

One possible model which could work (and should be legal) would be;

- Government reserves spectrum for state/EU funded Irish TV/Radio stations.

- Government (re-)issues regulations for all public and commercial DTT stations

- Comreg decides split between FTA and 'Pay' TV stations based on government policy.

- Comreg auctions off remaining FTA/'Pay' spectrum to any interested commercial TV stations.

- Including spectrum to be released when analogue broadcasts cease.

- The conditions of the DTT spectrum auction are that winners;

- Form a not-for-profit DTT Broadcast Network establishment/maintainence organisation (DBN)

- Are responsible for funding DBN (based on quantity of awarded spectrum)

- Government contributes to funding DBN for uneconomical broadcast areas and perhaps (if allowed) for public-service broadcasters (network establishment only)

How is the DTT network in the UK currently funded?

I believe the DTT network in Norway and Sweden is fully funded by the private sector?

watty

TBH what makes most sense is have only 15 free terrestrial channels and an irish controlled Sat Muxes on 28.2.

Mandatory TV + 4 satellites pickup with 2 pairs of Sat outlets in each apartment (28, 19, 13 & one other at management group descretion), or any other building a per user dish is not appropriate.

Then auction off 600MHz to 860MHz for mobile / fixed Internet. Ditgital TV 470MHz to 600MHz only.

Increase MMDS spectrum a bit and insist UPC must provide UNIVERSAL coverage and a basic 15 channel digital pack free (you have to buy your own decoder, but hey, people doing that already on cable ).

HD is a luxury. If you have a 32" or less TV you don't need it. Let HD be on Cable/MMDS and Satellite only. The US needed it (and they call 864 x480p HD!) as their analogue 480 visible line (525lines ) is so rubbish compared with our 576 line (625 line Analogue) and they typical US TV is 48" or larger.

taung

watty wrote:

TBH what makes most sense is have only 15 free terrestrial channels and an irish controlled Sat Muxes on 28.2.

Mandatory TV + 4 satellites pickup with 2 pairs of Sat outlets in each apartment (28, 19, 13 & one other at management group descretion), or any other building a per user dish is not appropriate.

Then auction off 600MHz to 860MHz for mobile / fixed Internet. Ditgital TV 470MHz to 600MHz only.

Increase MMDS spectrum a bit and insist UPC must provide UNIVERSAL coverage and a basic 15 channel digital pack free (you have to buy your own decoder, but hey, people doing that already on cable ).

HD is a luxury. If you have a 32" or less TV you don't need it. Let HD be on Cable/MMDS and Satellite only. The US needed it (and they call 864 x480p HD!) as their analogue 480 visible line (525lines ) is so rubbish compared with our 576 line (625 line Analogue) and they typical US TV is 48" or larger.

Oh right, that clears it the whole funding thing then......;)

lucernarian

I fail to see why the state cannot invest in something and then make a profit from it. Though if there was a profit to be made, then surely some private entities would apply for DTT national provision??

If the whole thing was done in stages of licences, e.g. Get the existing trial Mux 1 on all main transmitters, with the group who does this rollout being paid in the form of a commercial multiplex or two, with a cable-tv-like setup. This could be rolled out to many of the largest relays, and then some sort of auction for the remaining commercial multiplexes. Not sure what would happen from there.

But my point is that a staged system of development would allow for more flexibility instead of having a plan fixed in stone many years before some places in Ireland would ever see DVB-T.

watty

No comercial company would do it on that basis.

lucernarian

Would a commercial multiplex or two not pay for the rollout of a PSB multiplex aswell?