Analog blackout

Analog blackout is the name given to the cessation of analogue broadcasts by television operators, to begin transmitting only through digitalized signals. By June 2022, the transition had been completed in almost all of Europe, much of East Asia (including China) and Oceania, and several countries in Africa. On the American continent, only Mexico, Honduras, the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, some Caribbean countries, French Guiana and Suriname have completed the transition to the digital signal.

History

In Europe the blackout began in May 2005 as the recommended date and 2012 as the deadline for all countries. Once the analog blackout is complete, it is essential to have a television with a digital tuner, or failing that, use an external DTT tuner (ATSC, ISDB-T or DVB-T), which processes the digital signal and sends it to a television. that lacks this, to be able to tune in and watch the broadcast on the screen. At the same time, these require an aerial antenna that tunes the digital frequencies and delivers them to the system (UHF antenna), since analog TV antennas do not capture the digital television frequency even if they already have the current TV.

The transition process is variable in each country and in some it is being implemented in stages, as is the case of India and the United Kingdom, where regional sectors have different dates to carry it out. In other countries it is done at the national level, as the Netherlands did on December 11, 2006.

UHF (Ultra High Frequency) is a band of the electromagnetic spectrum that occupies the frequency range from 300 MHz to 3 GHz. In this band, propagation occurs through tropospheric space wave, with a maximum additional attenuation of 1 dB if there is clearance of the first Fresnel zone. Due to the technology used, the name was also used in Spain to refer to La 2 de TVE until 1990, this nomenclature having progressively fallen into disuse in recent years.

Blackouts

Timeline

• 1996: Netherlands (satellite services)
• 1999: Russia (satellite services)
• 2001: United Kingdom and Ireland (satellite services), Malaysia (cable television)
• 2002: Faroe Islands, Malaysia (satellite services), Albania (satellite services), Norway (satellite services)
• 2004: Sweden (satellite services)
• 2005: Italy (satellite services), Indonesia (satellite services)
• 2006: Turkey (satellite services), Luxembourg, Netherlands
• 2007: Finland (1 September), Andorra (25 September), Sweden (October), Switzerland (November)
• 2008: Germany, Belgium (Flands) Denmark

• 2009: United States (high power stations; June), Isle of Man (July), Denmark and Norway (December)
• 2010: Belgium (Valonia), Croatia, Estonia, Guernsey, Jersey, Japan (nor-eastern part of the Ishikawa prefecture), Latvia, Luxembourg (cable and satellite television), San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom (Gales)
• 2011: Austria, Canada (large cities), Cyprus, France, Israel, Japan (except for prefectures affected by the earthquake), Malta, Monaco, United Kingdom (Scotland)
• 2012: Czech Republic, Gibraltar, Ireland, Italy, Japan (Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi), Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Baréin, Portugal, Slovakia, South Korea, Taiwan, United Kingdom (England and Northern Ireland)
• 2013: Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Hungary, North Macedonia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Poland, United Kingdom (cable TV)
• 2014: Serbia, Iceland, Namibia, Algeria
• 2015: Belarus, Brunéi, Greece, Iran, Morocco (band UHF), Mexico, Moldova, Romania (band UHF), Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Georgia, United States (low-powered class A stages), Mongolia
• 2016: Bermuda, Brazil (Federal district and the city of Rio Verde), China (CCTV), Burundi
• 2017Brazil (close metropolitan areas, such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, among others), Philippines (Light Network), Romania (phase 2), Germany (Unitymedia), Kyrgyzstan, Brunéi
• 2018: Brazil (large cities, all states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo), Romania (band VHF), Russia (first two multiplexes) (Oblast of Tver), Thailand (most of channels), Ukraine (most of channels), Uzbekistan, Philippines (RJ TV/2nd Avenue)
• 2019: Ireland (cable television), Russia (first two multiplexes) (other regions), Northern Cyprus, Singapore, India (phase one), Moldova (Transnistria), Bhutan (cable television), Costa Rica (zones covered by Irazu Volcano), South Africa, Malaysia
• 2020: Brazil (other cities), Santos Domínguez (from 26 July), China (trade stations), Ecuador (Quito and its surroundings), Morocco (banda VHF), Hong Kong, Macao, Thailand (Canal 3), Uruguay, Venezuela, Moldova (other territories), Sudan, Ivory Coast, Vietnam, Laos, Pakistan, Senegal
• 2021: United States (low power stations), India (phase two), Kazakhstan, Costa Rica (country).
• 2022: Canada (remaining cities), El Salvador, Indonesia (television), Philippines (BEAM TV), United States (Alaska) (low-power stations)
• 2023: Panama (from 16 January in Panama City, Panama West and Columbus), Cambodia, Dominican Republic (from 31 August in the rest of the country), Philippines (main cities), India (last phase), Ecuador (at the national level), Paraguay (first phase)
• 2024: Argentina (first phase), Brazil (country), Chile, Cuba, Peru (Lima and Callao)
• 2025: Argentina (last phase), Bolivia, Indonesia (cable television), Peru (country)
• 2026: Paraguay (last phase)

Details of the analog blackout by country

Country	First issue of TDT	Start of the blackout	End of the blackout	Ref
Germany	01997-09-01 1 September 1997	02002-01-11 11 January 2002	02008-07-01 1 July 2008
Andorra			02007-09-25 25 September 2007
Argentina	02010-04-21 21 April 2010	02024-03-31 31 March 2024	02025-06-30 30 June 2025
Australia	02001-01-01 1 January 2001	02010-06-30 30 June 2010	02013-12-10 10 December 2013
Austria		02007-03-05 5 March 2007	02011-06-07 7 June 2011
Belgium		02008-03-11 11 March 2008	02010-01-03 3 January 2010
Brazil	02007-12-02 2 December 2007	02016-06-29 29 June 2016	02023-11-25 25 November 2023
Bulgaria		02013-01-03 3 January 2013	02013-09-30 30 September 2013
Canada	02003-03-01 1 March 2003	02011-08-31 31 August 2011
Canada - Quebec	02007-07-08 8 July 2007	02011-08-31 31 August 2011
Chile	02009-09-14 14 September 2009		02024-12-15 15 December 2024
Colombia	02008-08-28 28 August 2008	02022-12-31 31 December 2022	Undefined
Costa Rica	02010-05-25 25 May 2010	02019-08-14 August 14, 2019	02023-01-31 31 January 2023
South Korea			02012-12-26 26 December 2012
Croatia	02002-06-13 13 June 2002	02010-01-26 26 January 2010	02010-05-10 10 May 2010
Czech Republic			02012-06-30 30 June 2012
Denmark	02003-01-03 3 January 2003		02009-01-11 11 January 2009
El Salvador	02009-04-22 22 April 2009	02018-12-21 21 December 2018	02024-03-20 20 March 2024
Slovakia			02012-12-31 31 December 2012
Slovenia			02011-06-30 30 June 2011
Spain	02005-11-30 30 November 2005	02008-04-05 5 April 2008	02010-04-03 3 April 2010
United States	01998-10-29 29 October 1998	02008-09-08 8 September 2008	02021-07-13 13 July 2021
Estonia			02010-01-07 7 January 2010
Finland	02001-08-21 21 August 2001		02007-01-09 9 January 2007
France	02005-03-31 31 March 2005	02010-02-02 2 February 2010	02011-11-29 29 November 2011
Greece			02015-02-06 6 February 2015
Guernsey			02010-11-17 17 November 2010
Hungary	02008-12-01 1 December 2008	02013-07-31 31 July 2013	02013-10-31 31 October 2013
India		02012-03-31 31 March 2012	02015-03-31 31 March 2015
Ireland	02010-10-29 29 October 2010		02012-10-24 24 October 2012
Isle of Man			02009-07-16 16 July 2009
Italy			02012-07-04 4 July 2012
Japan	02003-01-12 12 January 2003	02011-07-24 24 July 2011	02012-03-31 31 March 2012
Jersey			02010-11-17 17 November 2010
Latvia			02010-06-01 1 June 2010
Lithuania			02012-10-29 29 October 2012
Middle East	02004-01-01 1 January 2004		02012-02-13 13 February 2012
Mexico	02004-07-01 1 July 2004	02013-07-01 1 July 2013	02015-12-31 31 December 2015
Dominican Republic	02010-08-10 10 August 2010	02023-08-31 31 August 2023	02023-12-31 31 December 2023
Norway	02007-09-01 1 September 2007	02008-03-01 1 March 2008	02009-12-01 1 December 2009
Netherlands			02006-11-12 12 November 2006
Paraguay	02011-08-15 15 August 2011	02023-12-31 31 December 2023	02026-12-31 31 December 2026
Peru Peru	30 March 2010	IV quarter 2021 (Territory I) IV quarter 2022 (Territory II) IV quarter 2023 (Territory III) IV quarter 2025 (Territory IV) IV quarter 2027 (Territory V)	IV quarter 2024 (Territory I) The other territories shall be established by ministerial resolution.
Poland	02010-09-30 30 September 2010	02012-11-07 7 November 2012	02013-07-23 23 July 2013
Portugal			02012-04-26 26 April 2012
United Kingdom	01998-01-10 10 January 1998	02007-10-17 17 October 2007	02012-10-24 24 October 2012
Serbia		02014-09 September 2014	02015-06-07 7 June 2015
South Africa	02008-11-01 1 November 2008		02013-12-01 1 December 2013
Sweden	1999	02005-09-19 19 September 2005	02007-09-29 29 September 2007
Switzerland		02006-06-01 1 June 2006	02008-01-01 1 January 2008
Tunisia			2015
Uruguay	02012-08-09 9 August 2012	02015-11-21 21 November 2015	02025-12-01 1 December 2025

Transition complete

• LuxembourgLuxembourg: (1 September 2006) was the first country in the world to make the full transition to digital broadcasting.
• NetherlandsThe Netherlands (1 December 2006).
• FinlandFinland (1 September 2007)
• AndorraAndorra: (25 September 2007)
• Sweden Sweden: (15 October 2007). The analog blackout started on Gotland Island on September 15, 2005.
• SwitzerlandSwitzerland: (26 November 2007). The analog blackout was first completed in the Canton of Tesino on 24 July 2006.
• BelgiumBelgium: (3 November 2008) The region of Flanders, where digital coverage already reached 99%, announced that the analog blackout would take place on 31 December 2008. However, in Wallonia, all analog services ended on March 1, 2010.
• GermanyGermany: (1 July 2008). The analog blackout started in Berlin on August 4, 2003, Bremen and Hamburg.
• Isle of ManIsle of Man: It completed the analog blackout on July 16, 2009.
• DenmarkDenmark: (1 November 2009). The analog services were disconnected at midnight that day.
• Norway Norway: (1 December 2009). The disconnection of analogue transmissions began in March 2008.
• SpainSpain: (2 April 2010). The analog blackout was first completed in Fonsagrada on April 5, 2008, within the National Transition Plan to Digital Terrestrial Television.

• LatviaLatvia: (1 June 2010). The disconnection of analogue transmissions was made in June.
• EstoniaEstonia: (1 July 2010). The analog blackout ended in July.
• CroatiaCroatia: (5 October 2010). Analog television broadcasts ended and became digital.
• Guernsey and JerseyJersey: (17 November 2010).
• SloveniaSlovenia: (1 December 2010). The blackout took place completely on the first day of December.
• IsraelIsrael: The analog blackout in March 2011. There is no analog emission in Israel.

• AustriaAustria: (7 June 2011). The analog blackout started on March 5, 2007.
• Quebec: (24 August 2011). The disconnection of analogue transmissions began in August 2011.
• MaltaMalta: (31 October 2011).
• France: (30 November 2011). The analog blackout was completed both in Paris and elsewhere.
• JapanJapan: (31 March 2012). On 24 July 2010, analog signals were shut down in the north of Ishikawa prefecture. All analog signals were shut down in the rest of Ishikawa and 43 other prefectures at noon on 24 July 2011, with the exception of the remaining 3 prefectures that were destroyed or seriously damaged on 11 March 2011 due to the Tohoku disaster caused by the 9th and subsequent tsunami earthquake and related nuclear accidents, which stopped the analogue transmission at noon on 31 March 2012. All Japanese television stations were required to transmit a warning such as the transition between analogue and digital signals between noon and midnight on the day of the blackout.
• Portugal: (26 April 2012).
• KenyaKenya: (June 2012). The digital transmitter began on 9 December 2009.
• Czech RepublicCzech Republic: (30 June 2012). The blackout took place in June.
• Taiwan: 30 June 2012). The first analogue emissions began in the 1960s. Digital television was introduced in 2004 at the terrestrial level with the DVB-T2 standard, replacing the analogue in 2012.
• ItalyItaly: (4 July 2012). In the country, the blackout will take place every six months in one or more regions. The island of Sardinia has been the first to turn off. The blackout was completed in July 2012.
• United KingdomUnited Kingdom: (24 October 2012). The first analog blackout occurred in the city of Whitehaven, in Cumbria County, on 17 October 2007 The country completed the blackout in October 2012, with the completion of analogue transmissions in Northern Ireland.
• Ireland: (24 October 2012). It was completed at the same time eating the UK.
• LithuaniaLithuania: (29 October 2012).
• South KoreaSouth Korea: (26 December 2012).
• Slovakia Slovakia: (31 December 2012).
• Northern MacedoniaNorth Macedonia: (1 June 2013).
• PolandPoland: (23 July 2013). The change to digital began in September 2009.
• BulgariaBulgaria: (30 September 2013).
• HungaryHungary: (31 October 2013).
• New ZealandNew Zealand: (1 December 2013).
• South Africa: (1 December 2013). In November 2008 the blackout began for the 2010 World Cup Football. It was planned for 2016. However, the transition was completed on 1 December 2013.
• Australia: The analog blackout was originally scheduled for 31 December 2013. However, the plan has been made three weeks earlier. The transition ended on 10 December 2013 after taking more than three years of the transition.
• AzerbaijanAzerbaijan: Started the analog blackout on 17 October 2010, and completed in 2015.
• ChinaChina: The blackout is completed in 2015.
• Hong KongHong Kong: 2012.
• Dominican RepublicDominican Republic: In August 2010, by decree 407-10 of the executive branch, it was decided to adopt the U.S. ATSC standard with date of application from August 2015. However, in view of the impossibility of meeting the date initially proposed, the transition was postponed until 9 August 2021 by Decree 294-15. On 7 October 2020 the previous decree was repealed by a new decree, 539-20, which states that INDOTEL will design a road map to complete the implementation of digital television before the end of 2022. The date was postponed again by decree 437-22, establishing that the analog blackout will be given on 31 August 2023 at 23:59, and on 31 December also at 23:59 will be made the digital ignition.
• GreeceGreece: Similar terrestrial transmissions were completed on February 6, 2015. [2]
• SerbiaSerbia: The analog blackout began in September 2014, and was completed on 7 June 2015.
• Montenegro Montenegro: (7 June 2015).
• Albania Albania: (7 June 2015).
• GeorgiaGeorgia: (1 July 2015). The blackout was projected on 17 July 2015, but deferred from floods in Tiflis on the night of 13 July 2015.
• ArmeniaArmenia: (10 July 2015).
• Mexico Mexico: The analog blackout was given on December 31, 2015. However, at first it was contemplated by December 31, 2016. Tijuana was the first city to give the analog blackout on May 28, 2013. However, the plenary of the Federal Telecommunications Commission (by ballot 4:1) agreed to reverse the analogous blackout due to the possible impact on electoral campaigns on the occasion of local elections to take place in the state (both well-known events to have been able to prevent them), thus delaying the inescapable process. In any case, the transition to TDT (Digital Terrestrial Television) on 17 December 2015 took place in advance in Mexico City and the State of Mexico and in its entirety throughout the country was held on 31 December 2015, at 12:00 a.m. Mexico is the first country in Latin America to achieve analog blackout.
• Costa RicaCosta Rica: It started in September 2011 and planned to complete it on December 15, 2017, but it was postponed to 2019 by a decree. On 14 August 2019 the analog blackout was completed in the areas covered by the Irazú Volcano and the transition in the rest of the country was postponed until mid-2021 by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally all analog signals went off in 2021.

Transition in progress

• Argentina: TDA digital transmissions began on September 7, 2008 in Buenos Aires. The blackout should have been completed by September 1, 2019 but was postponed by June 2025.
• BoliviaBolivia: It began on 20 July 2010, it is expected to start when 85% of households are in a position to receive the digital signal.
• BrazilBrazil: The first digital transmissions began on December 2, 2007 in São Paulo, and the analog blackout started on June 29, 2016; the final date of the blackout was scheduled for 2018, but was postponed until the year 2023.
• CambodiaCambodia: Analog blackout began in June 2010 in Nom Pen, but will be completed in 2024
• ChileChile: With the adoption of the Japanese standard in 2009, and the enactment of the Digital Television Act on 22 May 2014, the analogue simulcast system initially programmed the blackout by April 2020. However, at the request of the open television channels, in 2019 the government postponed the date of the blackout by December 15, 2024.
• ColombiaColombia: While the analog blackout officially started on December 31, 2022, there is no official date for its conclusion.
• The United States: The analog blackout ended at midnight from 12 to 13 June 2009, because the next spectrum auction could shift to a significant number of LPTV and TV Stations of translators ("and would require") that analogue stations incur the costs of the transition to digital before completing the auction process and replace ", until 13 July 2021.
• CanadaCanada: (1 August 2012). Analog television will stop broadcasting throughout the country on 31 August 2011, while the analog transition also ended on 1 August 2012.
• EcuadorEcuador: With the adoption of the Japanese rule in 2010, 7 years of transition began, initially scheduled for 2016, then moved to 2017 and then it was announced that it would take another year. The new timetable now states that it will be done by stages from May 2020 to December 2023. According to the plan for the transition to digital television ordered by the Ministry of Telecommunications of Ecuador, the beginning of transition will be set progressively: in Quito and around it will begin in May 2020; in July of that same year, Guayaquil and its surroundings will be added. In July 2022 the analogue signal will be switched off for the homes of the cities with between 1 million and 200 000 inhabitants. Finally, the cities with less than 200,000 inhabitants, until December 2023. Because of the health emergency of COVID-19, analogue television continues to be broadcast. However, due to technical and logistical reasons, the analog blackout was postponed by 31 December 2023.

Update: The first phase of the analog blackout will begin on December 31, 2021.

• El SalvadorEl Salvador: The blackout began on December 21, 2018 and it is proposed to complete the analog blackout by March 20, 2024.
• PhilippinesPhilippines: The analog blackout is scheduled for 31 December 2015.
• GuatemalaGuatemala: In June 2013 it was announced by the government that the ISDB-T standard would be used through the Government Agreement 226-2013, at that time a plan was announced to carry out the blackout progressively in two years to end it in 2015, the plan was not fulfilled and was not mentioned anymore. In March 2017 the Superintendence of Telecommunications resumed the issue and it was commented that the analog blackout was planned for five years, in June 2022. To this end, the Ministry of Communications had to adopt an agreement that would give rise to the implementation of TDT in Guatemala, however it was never published. At present no date has been mentioned for this purpose.
• India: I intend to complete the analog blackout in 2017.
• IndonesiaIndonesia: The analog blackout is scheduled for 2018.
• LaosLaos: The analog blackout started in 2010, but will be completed in 2042.
• MalaysiaMalaysia: The Ministry of Information planned to close the country of analogue television system in phases since 2012 and became television in 2015.
• Panama Panama: The DVB-T standard was chosen during 2008. The digital transition is expected to begin in 2010, and to make the analog blackout in 1 June 2021.
• Paraguay Paraguay: The analog blackout was previously planned in Paraguay by 2024, then attempted to advance it by December 30, 2021. The inauguration of the TDT in this country was held on 15 August 2011 by the state television broadcaster " Paraguay Public TV" (Paraguay TV currently), whose initial range was approximately 25 kilometres round from the microcenter of the city of Asunción, projecting growth for the whole country. On 21 July 2021, CONATEL together with representatives of all open channels presented the final transition schedule, which will start on 31 December of the same year with the digital ignition to the power defined by the regulator. The analog blackout will officially begin on December 31, 2023 in Asunción and the departments of Central, Cordillera and in some cities of Paraguarí, President Hayes and Ñeembucú. This transition would culminate in 2026.
• Peru Peru: The first transmissions began in 2007 using the ATSC standard. In 2009, the ISDB-T/SBTVD standard was chosen. The transition began on 30 March 2010 in the city of Lima. The completion of analogue transmissions is scheduled to begin in 2022. According to the Master Plan the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2022 in Lima and Callao; the fourth quarter of 2023 in Arequipa, Cuzco, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura and Huancayo; the fourth quarter of 2024 in Ayacucho, Chimbote, Ica, Iquitos, Juliaca, Pucallpa, Puno and Tacna; the fourth quarter of Cajagua
• Romania Romania: The analog blackout was completed on 1 January 2012.
• SingaporeSingapore: The plans to complete digital broadcasting on the ASEAN line committed to the transition to digital broadcasting between 2015 and 2020. When the conversion has been completed, analog signals will have been eliminated and all Mediacorp free television channels will be fully transmitted in digital format.
• Thailand: The blackout started in 2013 and completed in 2017.
• Ukraine Ukraine: The date announced by the government to complete the blackout is July 17, 2015.
• Uruguay Uruguay: The Government sets a date to begin the cessation of analogue emissions by 21 November 2015 and culminate in the same date as 2020. Following a ruling by the Administrative Dispute Tribunal (TCA) in favour of Cablevision (Clarín Group), only the "digital breach" concept is maintained.
• Venezuela Venezuela: The final date of the analogue signal in Venezuela, according to CONATEL, is January 1, 2020 but due to the low maintenance of the retransmission facilities and the lack of coverage, the analog blackout has not been carried out for the expected date and the progress of expansion of coverage has been absent in the country.
• VietnamVietnam: In 2009 transition has begun in North Vietnam and will end in 2020, but the southern part of Vietnam has not yet begun and not yet planned to begin.
• HondurasHonduras: In July 2019, only 7 analog signals have been made to the ISDB-T system, it should be noted that the private company and the government of the republic are not interested in performing the analog blackout. The transition is planned on 1 January 2020.
• Equatorial Guinea: For the realization of this project, the government of the Republic signed a contract with the company Wayang Teknical, on September 29, 2017 for the implementation of TDT in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

Uncertainties

• As cable or pay TV spreads among the population, local television channels are at a disadvantage in coverage; the blackout is a reason for for forcing those channels to be updated to broadcast TDT; in addition, with the aim of analog signals, the bandwidth is released to be used by more TV channels.
• The absence of a large park of appliances capable of receiving and processing the TDT signal makes the dates planned for carrying out this blackout intertwined. The marketing of external tuners, rather than the inclusion of these in TV receivers and recorders, has created uncertainty about the feasibility of the above-mentioned deadlines.
• On the one hand, the number of receivers (or other appliances such as recorders, which incorporate an old analog tuner) that exists in each home is usually more than one and each of them requires its own digital tuner. On the other hand, there is also the impossibility that the external tuner can be commanded by the recorder. All this has resulted in the fact that it has not spread, as would have been desirable, the TDT receptor park (or external tuners).

The obligation to suspend analogue broadcasts is called into question due to the risk of a significant loss in the number of viewers, a loss that can influence commercial channels that base their income on advertising and audiences.

Economic repercussions

• The economic impact is very high. The main agents involved in the transition to DTT are the manufacturers of tuners, televisions and antennas, content producers, broadcasters, network operators, installers, farm administrators and of course viewers.
• Manufacturers are the ones who earn the most, because the obligation to adapt to TDT requires that all equipment, both home, professional and infrastructural, be changed. Thus, since the first digital broadcasts, the sales of such companies have not stopped coming up.
• In parallel, installation and maintenance of new infrastructures have appeared.
• Content producers have to adapt to a much more competitive new market to capture an increasingly diversified audience in the face of increased supply. This in turn will benefit viewers with more television content.
• The emergence of thematic channels favors the entry of new advertising agents specialized in much more homogeneous market niches.
• Private generalist chains have lost hearing in favour of thematic channels, which has had an impact on significant stock losses.
• The broadcasting of local televisions can endanger by not being able to cope with the competition of so many new channels, which is known as an audiovisual bubble. In addition, many of them are illegal with uncertain future. On the other hand, local televisions were forced to be broadcast in digital long before state televisions.
• The network operators also win because with the new networks they can offer more quality services and give them flexibility for selective diffusion. They also have advantage over cable or satellite operators because they know better local markets and the system is much more portable and cheaper for viewers.

Spectrum liberalization

One of the reasons why it was chosen to move to digital television is the future availability of the bandwidth that is currently used for analog broadcasts. Consequently, many sectors are interested in acquiring part of the digital dividend, including mobile telecommunications operators, broadband access providers in rural areas, television networks, etc.

This part of the spectrum would be useful to telecommunications operators for two reasons. At these frequencies more coverage can be given and penetration inside buildings is better, so fewer antennas are required and therefore less investment. On the other hand, with more bandwidth, fourth-generation data services such as mobility television or broadband access can be offered.

By 2015, governments plan to use channels 60-69 for mobile communications (broadband, 4G, WiMax,...) leaving channels 60 or lower for DTT. All of this meant a new organization of the spectrum in the years following the blackout.

HDTV

Another reason for making the leap to DTT is the possible transmission of television with greater content in high definition (HDTV) and Ultra high definition, the evolution of the Internet and the creation of greater content on Smart Television televisions.

Radio

Radio is also going to suffer an analog blackout, many countries are thinking of putting an end to FM/AM frequencies and replacing them with digital signals that make better use of the spectrum, allowing a greater range of channels (Although in the HD Radio system They take advantage of the existing modulated frequencies and amplitudes to expand the characteristics of the receivers to receive a greater amount of information and interactivity, resulting in a more economical conversion than other competing standards, but this results in possible interference with traditional transmission).

• 2017: Norway Norway National FM Radios only, locals can continue to broadcast.
• 2023: DenmarkDenmark (possible for FM)
• 2024: SwitzerlandSwitzerland
• 2029: GermanyGermany (possible for FM)