Deadline for turning off analogue TV may stretch to 2015

taung

Looks like the BCI is really going to push the boat out to get DTT rolled out in Ireland!

From this morning's Irish Indo;

By Laura Noonan
Friday March 07 2008

THE 2012 deadline for switching off analogue TV is "not written in stone" and may be extended as far as 2015, the chief executive of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) revealed yesterday.
The comments came as the BCI unveiled details of the licensing process for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), which will ultimately replace traditional analogue TV.
The BCI has previously cited 2012 as the absolute cut-off point for DTT, but yesterday chief executive Michael O'Keeffe stuck a distinctly softer tone.
"It's not written in stone," he said. "It was the target date."
He added that the actual switch-off date was likely to be "between 2012 and 2015".
Under DTT, free-to-air channels RTE1, RTE2, TV3 and TG4 will all be carried on one platform operated by RTE and will be accessible free of charge through a digital box. The BCI will also license three commercial platforms which can each offer as many as 12 channels.
Encourage
Outlining the licence process for those three platforms yesterday, Mr O'Keeffe said he would "strongly encourage" a system which would allow one box to pick up channels from all four platforms.
The BCI has been consulting with commercial users on DTT for several months and is expecting "a significant number" of parties to apply, it said.
Eircom and BT have previously expressed their interest, along with existing digital players Sky and UPC, as well as TV3 and Setanta. Under the timeline outlined by the BCI, parties have until May 2 to submit bids ahead of oral presentations on May 12. An awards decision is expected on July 21.
- Laura Noonan

byte

A multiplex is now a "platform"?!

How likely is it that there could be 2 or 3 different commercial operators on those multiplexes? Like, UPC on one Mux, Sky with another mux, etc.

I dread to think how abyssmal that would be, especially if they didn't all agree to a single encryption system where one card would suffice. I'd personally prefer one commercial operator to run all 3 muxes.

Zaphod

Outlining the licence process for those three platforms yesterday, Mr O'Keeffe said he would "strongly encourage" a system which would allow one box to pick up channels from all four platforms.

"Strongly encourage"??? If it turns out that the different operators are unable to reach a consensus, why can't the BCI simply mandate them to use a common system as part of licensing requirements?

watty

without one operator the platform is a failure.
due to limited number of channels. Only 3 mux.

DMC

byte wrote: »

A multiplex is now a "platform"?!

Maybe multiplex or mux is too complicated for Indo readers

I think its an awful article, its too concise. Not blaming the author, probably edited for space.