Brussels, 17/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - Europe is leading the world in switching from analogue to digital television, the European Commission revealed on Monday 16 February. The Commission is driving a coordinated approach to the freeing up and future use of the radio spectrum, which is essential if the EU is to switch to all digital by the 2012 deadline. Analogue transmission is “spectrum-hungry”, so, with digital using the radio spectrum more efficiently, capacity is freed up for new uses. The switch over has already been made in five EU countries - Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden - and, by 2010, the process should be well advanced in the whole EU. By 2012, practically all member states are expected to have switched off analogue television, the Commission says. “This means that an important amount of fresh spectrum will become available for new TV and wireless services - if Europe makes the right decisions quickly. Coordinated decisions on the use of the so-called digital dividend are key to Europe's swift economic recovery,” said Telecoms and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding.
Digital broadcasting provides improved picture quality, better sound, better mobile reception, more TV and radio channels as well as enhanced information services, such as on screen programme guides. As digital broadcasting uses the radio spectrum more efficiently, it will free up capacity for new uses, such as high definition TV, mobile communications or wireless broadband in rural areas. This should stimulate innovation and opportunities for growth in the telecoms and media industries, while contributing to European efforts to stimulate the economic recovery. The Commission is working on a common approach on how to use the spectrum released by the digital switchover to achieve the greatest benefits for the single market and its 500 million citizens. At the end of 2008, the Commission published guidelines in which it encouraged the use of standards from the DVB (digital video broadcasting)-family in the EU and worldwide (see EUROPE 9802). (I.L./transl.rt)