Copenhagen.
The post-lunch session at COST298 kicks off with Lilia Raycheva, who notes that TV is still the most significant source of nformation in European households; they view an average of 3 hours per day, and by 2010 there will be some 120 HDTV channels. Analogue switchoff is supposed to be complete by 2012, but a number of European countries are lagging behind and may not meet that deadline. There is also a question whether current content regulations (diversity, local programming, etc.) will be able to be sustained in the new DTV environment.
There are a number of EU treaties and directives governing information and communication technologies - the i2010 initiative, for example, aims to create a single European information space, to strengthen innovation and investment, and to foster inclusion, better public services, and quality of life through ICTs; and a number of projects and directives determine technological standards for digital television and govern the DTV market.
Analogue switchoff creates a 'digital dividend': the spectrum over and above the frequencies required to support existing broadcasting services in a fully digital environment. This newly freed-up spectrum can be devoted to new services, including both unidirectional (conventional broadcasting) and two-way (broadband) communication, and there are now proposals to cluster these frequencies across Europe at three levels (mainstream broadcasting, low-level broadcast such as mobile TV, and two-way communication).
Digital dividend strategies must be developed by each member state by the end of 2009 - however, it is difficult to do so until switchover happens, and because the technologies which may utilise this digital dividend are in part as yet unknown.
