Romania starts along the digital path

Romania will be among the last European countries to switch off its terrestrial analog signal and make the transition to digital terrestrial television, which is set to happen on June 17, 2015. The Romanian telecom watchdog has published the intermediary steps towards this goal, and industry representatives are trying to anticipate potential obstacles along the way.

By Otilia Haraga

“Analog terrestrial television has already been switched off in most countries in Europe and all European countries are expected to complete the digital switchover by 2015, if not sooner. In Bulgaria, analog broadcasting ceased this fall, and Hungary and Ukraine will complete the transition process in 2014. By 2015, all the countries in the region will have definitely switched off analog terrestrial television, as per the commitment Romania made by signing the Geneva agreement in 2006,” Catalin Marinescu, president of the Romanian telecom watchdog ANCOM, told BR.

Digital terrestrial television has certain advantages over analog television such as a higher quality of video and audio transmission and a higher data transmission rate, and it opens the gate for new technologies such as DVB-H (digital video broadcasting – handheld) and HDTV (high-definition television).

Digital terrestrial television also facilitates a more efficient allocation of the spectrum because it allows the reception of more programs on a single channel as opposed to just one program per channel, as in the case with analog terrestrial television.

“In Romania, most viewers use cable TV, for which they pay a monthly fee, others pay for satellite (direct-to-home) reception, others have installed their own satellite antenna, others receive TV programs for free with an individual antenna, and some have IPTV. So, we are talking about a competitive market, with various types of platforms, with costs and benefits, advantages and disadvantages, but also with a customer base that believes the pros exceed the cons,” Marinescu told BR.

He explained that digital terrestrial television is in fact an alternative for users in Romania. It will not replace the current outlets of broadcasting/transmission, but only complete the range of services that consumers have at their disposal.

The Romanian telecom watchdog ANCOM will allocate five national digital multiplexes in the DVB-T2 standard, four national digital multiplexes in the UHF (ultra-high frequency) band and one national digital multiplex in the VHF (very-high frequency) band.

ANCOM will also allocate regional digital multiplexes, the number of which remains to be decided, depending on the need, after the national ones are allocated.

One of the four multiplexes in the UHF band will be allocated under certain conditions: it can broadcast public and private stations after June 17, 2015, provided it ensures coverage of 90 percent of the population and 80 percent of the territory by December 31, 2016.

“The level of the license taxes has not yet been set. ANCOM estimates that by mid-November, the bill that regulates this aspect will be completed and put up for public consultation. Taxes resulting from the auction will be revenue for the state budget,” Marinescu told BR.

Apart from the license fees for acquiring a multiplex, investments will also be made by operators who intend to go onto this market, depending on their model of business. The government approved the strategy for the transition to digital terrestrial television and published the government decision nr. 400 in the Official Gazette on July 3 of this year.

Last week, the telecom authority laid out the steps towards this goal.

“If no unforeseen events occur and the procedure takes place according to the proposed calendar, we hope to announce the winners of the five digital television licenses before April 30, 2014. Basically, the future operators of the licenses will have at their disposal more than 12 months until the transmission of terrestrial analog TV programs cease, namely June 17, 2015,” said Marinescu.

According to the calendar laid out by ANCOM, by mid-November 2013, the government bill that stipulates the license taxes and the procedure for allocating the licenses as well as the bill setting out the procedure for allocating the digital multiplexes and the preliminary task books will be completed and put up for public consultation.

By the end of the year, consultations and the approval of the documents should be completed. In January 2014, the selection procedure should be launched.

The procedure of allocating the multiplexes should be finished by the end of April 2014. By June 17, 2015, the digital switchover should be complete.

Promotional campaign, the key to a smooth transition

Apart from the time-sensitive steps, the state will implement a campaign to inform the public about the transition to digital terrestrial television. The National Audio-visual Council (CNA) in partnership with the Romanian public television service will roll it out.

“The CNA officially announces that it has started a campaign to inform and promote the strategy of transition from analog terrestrial television to digital terrestrial television. We have pressed the ‘On Air’ button,” said Laura Georgescu, president of the CNA, during the International Digital Forum.

The institution will use the expertise of other member states such as Macedonia and Poland, which have already completed the digital switchover, and Hungary, which will complete the process before Romania.

To this end, the CNA has already signed partnerships with telecom regulator ANCOM and the Association for Digital Communications.

“The second partnership we have signed is with the public television service, which will be our main partner in broadcasting videos for promoting the transition to terrestrial television,” said Georgescu.

The CNA is also about to sign a partnership with the public radio broadcaster.

The first meetings with SRTv (ed. note: which runs the national public television station TVR) to plan the implementation of the campaign will take place very soon, said Claudiu Saftoiu, president and general manager of SRTv.

Radiocom (The National Radiocommunications Company) has the largest analog terrestrial television broadcasting network in Romania, running two terrestrial TV channels – TVR 1 and TVR 2 – while 40 percent of its revenues come from television broadcasting.

The institution has already implemented two pilot projects in the classical digital standard DVB-T (digital video broadcasting – terrestrial) in Bucharest and Sibiu.

“We should not forget that major investments were made when passing from tube transmitters to advanced transmitters over 2004-2008, also ensuring 95 percent coverage for the channels TVR 1 and TVR 2. These investments were made with the warranty of the Ministry of Finance and there are in fact loans that are being reimbursed. All this has created the need to upgrade the two broadcasting networks by moving to the digital standard. We are in discussions with big banks in Romania to find viable financing solutions for this project, which we aim to complete by June 2015,” said Gabriel Grecu, general manager of Radiocom.

The estimated value of the project is EUR 20 million, according to Grecu.

“This transition requires vital decisions,” he added. “SNR’s activity is mainly in broadcasting, so not taking the necessary measures to be prepared by 2015 would mean a deplorable end for this company, which, of course, we don’t want to happen.”

In the first half of 2014, Radiocom will implement the DVB-T2 (digital video broadcasting – second generation terrestrial) on the TVR 2 analog infrastructure.

“There might be obstacles in implementing the project because of weather conditions. However, we believe that by July 2014, we will have provided digital emission for 40 percent of the population, and the impact on analog reception will be minimal,” said Grecu.

otilia.haraga@business-review.ro

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