Itelazpi has been charged with implementing the Second Digital Dividend from Television Channels of the EiTB Group in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) of Euskadi (CAE) and from Spanish State Channels within this region’s coverage area.
Welcome to #DD2_EUSKADI, your
one-stop information source for all general questions related to the Second
Digital Dividend in Euskadi and for all the latest updates on this important
process. This initiative aims to cover the information needs of all our
stakeholders, with a focus on our companies, on local councils, on our
installation agents and on society in general within the BAC.
PROGRESS #DD2_EUSKADI
This section allows you to keep up with the progress of the Second Digital Dividend in each of the Provinces and Districts of the BAC. In addition, Itelazpi, sends planning information directly to all of the Councils of the BAC with the exact dates when new channels will go live and when the old channels being released are to switch off. In the interval between the start-up date for the new channel and the end of the old one, the same programming will be shown simultaneously on the new channel and on the one to be cleared.
Regional level and state-wide level coverage digital multiplex
Click on the province to see detail
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Help: Multiplex, contents and channels
DTT PLAN
Implementation Process for the Second Digital Dividend
The Release Process for the Second Digital Dividend will formally begin on 28/11/2017 with the start of the consultation by the SEAD into the 700 MHz band. A few months later, the Route-Map will be published, setting out all of the main targets and milestones that make up the process. Among the planned actions was the publication of the National Technical Plan for DTT (PTNTDT), which took place on 21 June. The diagram below shows how the process is developing and gives a general overview.
Apart from the above, the State Department for Digital Advancement has set up a DTT information portal where citizens can find answers to general questions.
‘Digital Dividend’ is the term used to refer to the radio spectrum space that is released in the transition process from analogue to digital television. However, before people could start to enjoy this dividend in the form of new broadband services with 4G technology, a set of adjacent frequencies had to be defined. In Europe, this spectrum of adjacent frequencies was set at the 800 MHz band. For the Spanish State, this freed up only a few scattered frequencies and the 800 MHz frequency band was already partially occupied by DTT channels.
The term refers to a process launched in June 2014 and aimed at reorganising some of the channels used prior to 31 March 2015 to broadcast digital television and freeing up the 800 MHz band so that it could be given over to new broadband services, mainly for fourth-generation (4G) mobile telephones. Once these frequencies had been cleared, 4G mobile telephones started using the 800 MHz band and people began to enjoy the benefits of the Digital Dividend.
This is a new process to free up more DTT frequencies ready for the implementation of the fifth generation of mobile telecommunications, widely known as 5G. This time, the 700 MHz band is to be cleared.
As an operator in the field of public radio and television infrastructure, Itelazpi has been charged with coordinating the Second Digital Dividend in Euskadi for the channels of the EiTB Group and Spanish State Channels transmitted within this region’s coverage area. These are areas with low population density, representing just 2% of the regional total in the case of public state channels and 4% in the case of private state channels. Itelazpi is not responsible for coordinating locally-based stations. During the process, Itelazpi will be adapting the equipment at its broadcasting centres to the new channel frequencies and establishing simulcast periods to minimise the impact of the changeover on our citizens. Itelazpi will also be in charge of coordinating the process with all of the different agents involved, particularly local councils and town halls, managers of multiple broadcasters and telecoms installation agents (commonly known as cable companies).
The process governing the Second Digital Dividend is regulated by the State Department for Digital Advancement (SEAD), part of the Spanish Ministry of the Economy and Business (MINECO).
The regulation process for the Second Digital Dividend is set out in the National Technical Plan for DTT (PTNTDT), which was approved in the Council of Ministers on 21 June.
The PTNTDT Plan sets out the new frequencies and channels that are to have their TDT transmissions switched off. During the process, these transmissions will cease and then restart in the new channels that they are to occupy. There will be a guaranteed SIMULCAST period in which programmes will be transmitted simultaneously on the channels to be released and on the final channels.
The Second Digital Dividend will require you to once again retune your television programming and, in some cases, collective aerials will have to be adapted.
Depending on your type of dwelling and your reception aerial type (individual or collective), one of the following scenarios will apply:
– If you live in a one-family dwelling, you will only have to retune your programming.
– If you live in a communal dwelling, the procedure depends on the type of installation required, with the three possible scenarios set out below:
· Installation using Broadband Amplifier. Set requires no adaptation.
· Installation using Programmable Control Unit. Set must be adapted in advance.
· Installation using Single Channel Amplifier. Set must be adapted in advance.
Once the collective reception aerial set has been adapted, you will have to retune your programming.
The adaptation of the aerial set must be coordinated with the Community Management Company or the Community President through the Telecoms Installation Agent.
100% of the population will have to retune their televisions
The implementation process for the Second Digital Dividend will take place gradually throughout the different districts of the BAC. This means that citizens should wait to be informed of the date when the process will occur in their own districts. After this date, programming can be retuned and you will be notified of this information by your Local Council or Homeowners’ Committee via the usual means (announcements, information panels on main entrances, etc.).
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