Spain

[ES] Analogue Switch-Off Receives Additional Funding

IRIS 2009-1:1/15

Trinidad García Leiva

Universidad Carlos III, Madrid

On 17 October 2008, the Spanish government approved an agreement formalising the criteria for the distribution of funding through credits amongst the Autonomous Communities, so as to finance the necessary activities for the completion of the first of the three phases established by the National Plan for the Transition to Digital Terrestrial Television.

Consensus between the different levels of the administration had been reached in July in the Conferencia Sectorial de Telecomunicaciones y Sociedad de la Información (Telecommunications and Information Society Conference), in the form of a collaboration protocol between the regions and the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade. The aim is to provide EUR 8.72 millions in credits, so as to enable the extension and completion of DTT coverage through the transition projects, due to be completed within the first semester of 2009.

The ongoing timetable implies that switch-off will take place progressively, in phases organised through a total of 90 transition projects. The 32 projects included in the first stage, with 30 June 2009 as the deadline, will affect 12.6% of the total population of Spain (more than 5.5 million inhabitants).

The distribution of these additional resources will benefit the following Communities most: Galicia (EUR 1.657.750), Castilla-León (EUR 1.650.500) and Castilla-La Mancha (EUR 1.157.750).