The European Commission published on 24th May 2005 a Communication on the process of transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, underlining the importance that the Member States of the European Union (EU) proceed with their transition to digital television.
The Commission expects this process to be well advanced by 2010, and recommends 2012 as the deadline for the analogical switch-off in all Member States of the EU.
The Commission underlines that the coordination of national plans for transition to this new technology is not significant, at Member State level, and that some countries have not yet presented their transition plans or switch-over dates, including Portugal, Denmark, France, Luxemburg, Holland, Austria, Ireland and Poland. The Commission recommends that these countries finalize their plans until the end of 2005. Regarding the issue of how much spectrum should be made available, the Commission points to the need for flexibility on national frequency allocation plans, in order to allow for the introduction of new electronic communication services, in addition to digital broadcasting ones.
As a complement to this Communication, the European Commission published a Working Document identifying best practices regarding consumer information strategies and analysing the situation of digital radio.
Further information:
- Commission expects most broadcasting in the EU to be digital by 2010 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-05-595_en.htm
- Switchover to Digital Television by 2012: Situation in the 25 EU Member States http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-05-166_en.htm
- COM(2005) 204 final, 24.05.2005 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2005:0204:FIN:EN:PDF
- Commission Staff Working Document associated to the Communication on accelerating the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting http://europa.eu.int/information_society/topics/ecomm/doc/useful_information/library/commiss_serv_doc/wd_final.pdf
Related information on ANACOM's website:
- Digital television https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=17261
