Austria

[AT] Public Consultation on DAB-T and DVB-T

IRIS 2003-6:1/7

Stephanie Homburger

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

The Austrian Rundfunk & Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH (Broadcasting & Telecommunications Regulator - RTR) has launched a public consultation procedure on the development of the Austrian requirements relating to DVB-T and T-DAB for the Regional Radio Conference (RRC04/05) being held in 2004/2005. The overwhelming majority of European telecommunications administrations which are members of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have called for a revision of the Stockholm 1961 Agreement, which forms the basis of analogue TV broadcasting structures and international co-ordination. The revised version will contain a frequency plan for digital broadcasting in frequency bands III, IV and V, which are currently used by most terrestrial analogue broadcasters.

In accordance with media policy objectives, the Austrian consultation will lead to the drafting of Austria's requirements for the digitisation of broadcasting. Experts and interested members of the public have been invited to give their views in response to the essential questions set out by the RTR. These questions deal, for example, with how reception zones will be structured for terrestrial digital broadcasting (DVB-T and T-DAB), how many technical overlaps are considered necessary for DVB-T to meet the needs of the Austrian population, and what kind of demand for terrestrial digital radio (T-DAB) there is likely to be in the future. These questions are also significant insofar as the latest digital broadcasting technology can be used to create two fundamental types of radio network structures - Multi Frequency Networks (MFN) and Single Frequency Networks (SFN) - which each have advantages and disadvantages. The frequency plan to be drawn up by the RTR should incorporate the advantages as far as possible. The RTR is therefore dependent on information about usable infrastructures and supply needs, which can be obtained at least partly through the consultation process.