Brussels, 08/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - Compulsory technical standards imposed by regulators are not necessary for the roll-out of interactive digital TV in Europe. In a press release on interoperability of digital television, issued on Tuesday, the European Commission said that this dynamic market would be best served by voluntary, industry-led standardisation initiatives. Interactive digital television allows the viewer to interact with the broadcaster via a “return channel”. Interactivity requires a software stack in the receiver called an Applications Programme Interface (API). To ensure that markets of scale can develop and technical incompatibilities to the detriment of the consumer are avoided, open interoperable APIs play a crucial role. The Commission has been working since 2004 with stakeholders (broadcasters, network operators, manufacturers etc) to put in place interoperable solutions and has concluded that it is not necessary to make obligatory a particular EU-wide technical standard. The Commission's priority is now to work with Member States to ensure a smooth and rapid switchover to digital TV by 2012. Member States, for their part, should continue to promote open, operability standards.
The Commission will not stop at the borders of the Community, but will promote European digital TV standards in other regions of the world (Viviane Reding used her visit to Argentina and Brazil last week to speak about cooperation between the European Union and Mercosur in this area: see EUROPE 9121). To promote open and interoperable standards at international level, the Commission has financed a series of initiatives, including research projects on the development of interoperability solutions, said Martin Selmayr, spokesman for Commissioner Viviane Reding. He said that 25% of television viewers in the European Union use interactive digital television, and this percentage is 63.5% in the United Kingdom. The communication is published at
http: //europa.eu.int/infoprmation_society/policy/ecomm/info_centre/documentation/communic_
reports/index_en.htm