EU Launches Digital Dividend Consultation

Friday, July 10th, 2009
European Commission logo

How to transform the “digital dividend” into consumer benefits and up to €50 billion in economic growth for Europe?

BRUSSELS — The change from analogue to digital TV in Europe will free up radio frequencies for use by new services. The EU is well placed to benefit from this “digital dividend”: Germany, Finland, Luxembourg, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders) and major areas in Austria have already switched off analogue terrestrial TV transmissions, and other EU countries will follow by 2012. On 12 June, the USA also switched to digital TV transmissions. Unleashing the full potential of the switchover is on top of the EU’s telecoms policy agenda as the newly available radio spectrum can improve the way we communicate and access audiovisual content. Used efficiently, it will also bring economies of scale and improve the EU’s competitiveness by increasing innovation in equipment and wireless services, as well as by facilitating access to mobile broadband. Today, the Commission launched a consultation to determine how to better work together at EU level to get the most from this unique opportunity. The consultation will run until 4 September 2009.

“The digital dividend comes at a critical moment when we want to connect all parts of Europe to high-speed broadband, ensure high quality broadcasting, and expand consumer choice in future wireless services,” said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media. “Europe will only achieve all of this if it adopts a coordinated approach using radio spectrum in the most efficient way. Depending on the choices we make, the potential impact of the digital dividend can be increased by billions of euros. We want to better understand what the public, broadcasters, mobile operators and other market players think of these choices before we finalise our proposals.”

The freed up radio spectrum can transmit data over long distances and across borders, so decisions about it made in one Member State impact areas up to several hundreds of kilometres away. Without coordination, this precious resource may not be used to maximum efficiency, and some services may not be available in parts of Europe or parts of some countries.

Most of the potential uses for the digital dividend are mass consumer services, in both television and mobile broadband. There are huge potential economic benefits in ensuring that the same equipment can operate in the same frequencies across the EU. This will create significant economies of scale for equipment manufacturers and drive down the price, which will in turn stimulate further consumer demand and make these services more accessible.

Appropriate European coordination would increase the potential economic impact of the digital dividend by an additional €20 to €50 billion between now and 2015. In the long run an additional benefit of € 30 billion could be realised beyond 2015 through further EU coordination.

Given that by 2012 digital TV will completely replace analogue transmission and that several Member States want to quickly use the potential of wireless solutions to achieve full broadband access, EU countries need urgently to agree upon a common approach now. The Commission proposes to adopt an EU roadmap – a set of common, coordinated actions outlined in today’s consultation. To ensure that a clear and predictable regulatory environment prevails for regulators and industry alike in making the best use of the digital dividend, the Commission is also considering a plan harmonising the 800 MHz band, particularly suitable for new generations of mobile broadband.

The EU roadmap would outline the benefits of spectrum coordination while giving Member States flexibility to address local and national specificities, for example in broadcasting. The roadmap will also increase the overall availability of radio spectrum beyond what could be achieved by individual Member States and enable the delivery of more affordable and interoperable services.

The Commission will present a final proposal as quickly as possible after the closure of this public consultation.

Background

Analogue TV has occupied a broad segment of the radio spectrum, but as digital TV uses it much more efficiently, fresh spectrum is now becoming available for new uses. The “digital dividend” freed by the switchover is very attractive as the signals in this range travel very far and equipment can be easily used indoors. As a result, there are many potential candidates for access to this part of radio spectrum in addition to TV broadcasters.

In November 2007, the Commission issued a Communication which outlined the need, and possible approaches, for achieving appropriate EU coordination on spectrum. Today’s consultation is the main follow-up and follows discussions with national regulators and stakeholders and an ongoing socio-economic study to examine the potential impact of different scenarios for using the digital dividend.

Proposed Elements For A Roadmap

  • Improving consumers’ experience by ensuring high quality standards for terrestrial digital television receivers in Europe

    The two following actions are considered a priority:

    • Ensuring the availability of a compression standard on all DTT receivers sold after 1 January 2012 that is at least as efficient as the H264/MPEG-4 AVC standard.
    • Setting standards for the ability of digital TV receivers to resist interference.
       
  • Increasing the size of the digital dividend through further spectrum efficiency gains

    The European Commission study concluded that a significant part of the total potential spectrum efficiency gains could be achieved economically if the following initiatives were agreed and implemented with the appropriate level of EU coordination:

    • Promoting collaboration between Member States to share future broadcasting network deployment plans (e.g. migration to MPEG-4 or DVB-T2).
    • Encouraging the deployment of Single Frequency Networks (SFNs) over Multiple Frequency Networks (MFNs).
    • Supporting research into “frequency agile” mobile communications systems.
       
  • Making the 800 MHz band available for low/medium power electronic communications networks, under harmonised technical conditions, following the principle of technology and service neutrality.
  • Adopting a common position on the potential use of the “white spaces” as part of a possible extension of the digital dividend
  • Ensuring the continuity and further development of wireless microphone applications and other secondary uses of the UHF spectrum
  • More effective cross-border coordination with non-EU countries
  • Addressing future challenges

More: Consultation on the Digital Dividend