ANALOGUE broadcasting of television will stop as of July 1 of this year, with the switchover to digital technology offering members of the public better and more television content, the Communications Minister has said.
“This transition does not change the role television plays in our lives, it merely changes the way in which we receive content,” Erato Kozakou-Markoulli said addressing a seminar on digital television.
The minister said the necessary infrastructure is already in place, licences for digital broadcasting have been assigned, and all that was left was for providers to obtain the equipment.
In addition to satellite and terrestrial wireless networks, the infrastructure in Cyprus includes IPTV (Internet Protocol television and cable television), one of these being the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority’s network known as Cytavision.
Markoulli said that last year government authorities completed the licensing process for two digital terrestrial wireless networks, one of which is operated by the state-run CyBC while the other is soon expected to go live.
“These networks will be replacing analogue broadcasts…and will function in tandem with existing analogue networks until July 1, 2011, the date on which the existing analogue television broadcasts will cease,” she noted.
The minister went on to describe some of the advantages of digital television, such as superior image and sound and more options through the increase of channels and closed captioning for the hearing-impaired.
Additional services offered via digital technology are video-on-demand and interactive content and video games.
According to Markoulli, the advent of digital TV will free up a significant section of the radio frequency spectrum. “The transition to digital television will open up new horizons in information and entertainment, and all this at a very low cost.”
The EU has mandated the end of 2012 as the final date for Analogue Switch Off.
After the switch from analogue to digital broadcasts is complete, analog TVs will be incapable of receiving over-the-air broadcasts without the addition of a set-top converter box. Consequently, a digital converter box – an electronic device that connects to an analog television – must be used in order to allow the television to receive digital broadcasts.
On 13 March 2009, the Commissioner for Telecommunications and Postal Regulation formally adopted the MPEG-2 standard, but on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, it changed its decision now adopting the MPEG-4 H.264 standard making most new receivers in the country obsolete.
