THE FULL transition to digital terrestrial television will take place on July 1 as scheduled, the Communications Minister said yesterday amid reports that the analogue switch-off may be delayed due to technical problems faced by one of the digital providers.
“There shall be no delay whatsoever [in terminating analogue transmissions],” said Erato-Kozakou Markoulli. “We are proceeding normally.”
CyBC has already begun broadcasting digital, as has the consortium known as Velister, the holders of the second digital licence. Analogue transmissions meanwhile continue, but are to be completely phased out this Friday under the timetable announced by the government.
CyBC, the operator of one of the digital platforms, has asked the Ministry of Communications for a delay in completely shutting down their analogue broadcasts. Citing budgetary delays which prevented it from acquiring the necessary equipment on time, CyBC says that it cannot currently offer digital coverage for 60 villages with a population of some 40,000.
Some of the affected communities are: Ayioi Vavatsinias, Ayios Theodoros Soleas, Galata, Kakopetria, Geri, Germasoyeia, Yiolou, Kalavassos, Lefkara and Kato Platres.
Under the terms of their licence, CyBC must provide 100 per cent coverage. Velister’s contract calls for a 75 per cent coverage at minimum, but the consortium says it has exceeded this and is already operating at around 95 per cent.
The CyBC platform, awarded to the state broadcaster after direct negotiations with the government, hosts the CyBC channels, Ert Sat and Euronews.
Velister’s platform hosts the private stations, also free-to-air: Antenna, Sigma, Mega, Extra and Plus TV.
According to the CyBC, unless an extension is granted for the 60 communities (representing around five per cent of the population), these would be left with nothing but static on their television sets come July 1.
The communities, many of them located in mountainous or hilly areas, require the installation of local re-transmitters to be able to receive digital broadcasts.
CyBC claims also that in order to continue feeding these particular communities with analogue signals, it needs to continue operating one of its major transmitters on Troodos.
But keeping the Troodos transmitter on would at the same time enable CyBC to continue broadcasting analogue television practically at full blast, since the transmitter would offer a coverage of up to 70 per cent.
That in turn means that 70 per cent of households currently viewing CyBC channels on analogue would continue to do so normally without the need to purchase a digital decoder. By contrast, viewers of the private channels must buy decoders if they wish to keep watching those channels after July 1.
That, the private stations say, would give CyBC’s platform an unfair advantage.
Over the weekend, Markoulli seemed to create confusion when she said that both digital platforms might not be able to provide full digital coverage to the island, hinting that the ministry might consider a delay in pulling the plug on analogue.
She retracted her comments yesterday, during a live radio discussion with Nestoras Nestorides, general manager of Velister.
Markoulli met with CyBC officials yesterday and will be talking with reps of the private stations today.
Velister’s Nestorides told the Mail that, as far back as March 18, they had informed the telecoms regulator that their coverage had reached 94 per cent.
“As far as Velister is concerned, there is no issue. It is not a standoff between the platforms. It concerns the [hosted] stations. We have signed agreements for the licence and are ready to go.”
Contrary to media reports, carried by outlets affiliated to the protesting private stations, Nestorides said Velister is able to transmit to most of the 60 communities which are currently not digitally covered by CyBC.
Velister charges each private channel an annual fee of €100,000 for the rights to be hosted on their platform.
Neofytos Papadopoulos, director of the telecoms regulator, said yesterday that several people are calling the 151 helpline unsure whether they should procure the decoders or not for Friday.
“The media coverage has got folks confused. We tell them that, yes, you need to get the decoders, as all analogue transmissions end on July 1.”
Asked how a workaround could be found other than leaving the 60 communities without television for a certain time period, Markoulli said: “We are working to find ways.”
