Romania announces timetable for transition to digital television

Today, 17 October 2013, the president of the Romanian National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (Autorităţii Naţionale pentru Administrare şi Reglementare în Comunicaţii – ANCOM), Mr. Catalin Marinescu, presented the preliminary calendar of the transition to the digital television, upon the Romanian Government’s approval of the strategy on the transition from analogue terrestrial television to digital terrestrial television and national implementation of digital multimedia services. The Government Decision approving this strategy was published in the Romanian Official Journal no. 400 of 3 July 2013.

The President of ANCOM, attending the annual event organised by the Association for Digital Communications called the International Digital Forum, announced that the draft Government Decision establishing the licence fee and the procedure for the awarding of the licences, the draft decision on the procedure of allocation of multiplexes, as well as the draft terms of reference will be finalised and submitted to public consultation by mid-November. The period of consultation on, and approval of, these acts should end early in 2014. Once these acts approved, the actual launch of the selection procedure becomes possible in January 2014. ANCOM foresees that the procedure of allocation of multiplexes will be completed at the end of April, if no events that cannot be predicted at this moment occur.

The strategy adopted by the Government provides that the full and effective transition to the digital television services will take place until 17 June 2015.

In the implementation of the strategy, all the entities involved (CNA – National Audiovisual Council, ANCOM, providers) will aim at ensuring a balanced deployment of the infrastructure for the provision of digital television services across the country and a competitive environment, suitable for investments. The authorities will pursue the flexible deployment of the new services and the continuity of public television services.

In order to fulfil these objectives, ANCOM will award through a selection procedure 5 national digital multiplexes in DVB-T2 standard, four in the UHF band and one in the VHF band, as well as regional multiplexes whose number will be established after awarding the national ones, upon necessities. One of the four multiplexes in the UHF band will be awarded on a conditional basis, with the possibility of transmission of public and private channels after 17 June 2015, while covering in terms of fixed reception 90% of the population and 80% of the territory by 31 December 2016.