Austria

[AT] Gradual Switch-off of the Analogue Television Signal

IRIS 2008-1:1/7

Robert Rittler

Gassauer-Fleissner Attorneys at Law, Vienna

In the last few years, the analogue transmission of television signals has been switched off in Austrian urban areas, beginning with the west of the country. On 22 October 2007, the broadcaster Österreichische Rundfunksender GmbH & Co KG ceased analogue terrestrial transmissions in the eastern Austrian urban areas, and channels there can now only be received in digital form. This brought the first wave of digital terrestrial television to an end, and 70 per cent of Austrian households can now receive DVB-T. In the rural areas, the analogue signal will only continue to be transmitted until DVB-T is available everywhere.

Since October 2007, it has been possible to receive 3sat, Sport Plus and Puls TV via an aerial in the conurbations in addition to ORF 1, ORF 2 and ATV. Puls TV was included in the offering to meet the objective of the 2007 Digitisation Plan to enable regional channels to be received terrestrially (see IRIS 2007-10: 5).

Up until now, the Digitisation Fund has subsidised the purchase of DVB-T and DVB-C-receivers with MHP functionality. In giving its approval to this subsidy, the European Commission emphasised that it was necessary to grant subsidies irrespective of the method of delivery. The broadcasting and telecommunications regulator Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH therefore does not rule out the possibility of also subsidising the digitisation of satellite television if the actual nature of the subsidies is compatible with the guidelines on the subsidisation of projects via the Digitisation Fund.