Brussels, 22/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has just adopted a Communication on entitle “transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, from digital switchover to analogue switch-off“. This communication advises Member States on the policy pitfalls to avoid and identifies items that should be part of national switchover plans. The eEUROPE 2005 Action Plan requires Member States to publish their switchover plans including a possible date for ending analogue television by end 2003. Commissioner Liikanen declared that, " We are not considering intrusive measures like a harmonised date for turning off analogue television across the EU or forcing consumers to buy digital television sets. He added that, given the progress with digital television varying widely across Member States, "a one size fits all" policy at EU level would be inappropriate. The commissioner declared that they were actively monitoring "national processes, and benchmarking exercises will run for some years" He added that "We want to ensure that national switchover policies provide incentives for consumers to migrate to digital television voluntarily. We must also start discussing the spectrum aspects now, given their complexity and long term implications.”
The Communication also launches a policy debate on how the spectrum recovered once analogue broadcasting is turned off could be reused in a transparent and fair way. A spokesperson indicated that on this point that there are differing views on this among industry players, and it will be important to establish a policy approach that does justice both to the economic potential of spectrum release and other public policy objectives. The Commission proposes to take up the issue with Member States within the recently established Community spectrum policy framework set out in the new regulatory framework for electronic communications.