Eight parishes in Sintra turn off analogue television
The analogue television broadcasting relay in Cacém, serving the parishes of Agualva, Belas, Cacém, Massamá, Mira-Sintra, Rio de Mouro, São Marcos and São Pedro de Penaferrim, was switched off yesterday at 11.30am, leaving local residents only with digital terrestrial television. A ceremony was held place at the site of the relay to mark the switch-off.
With digital terrestrial television, viewers will benefit from improved image and audio quality, and, depending on the set-top-box used, will be able to access a set of new features, such as the electronic programming guide, image pausing and programme recording.
The Cacém relay is the second to be shut down in Portugal, after Alenquer became the first municipality in the country to migrate definitively to digital in a process which was successfully concluded without problems and which demonstrated that the transition to digital can be completed without causing difficulties and without people being left with no television.
To help viewers in the municipality of Sintra affected by the switch-off with any last-minute questions or difficulties, ANACOM will be operating a public helpdesk at Junta de Freguesia de Agualva (Agualva Parish Council), between 5pm and 8pm. During the day, Parish Councils of the areas affected will also be providing assistance to local people, as they have been doing to date.
In recent weeks, ANACOM has been hosting a series of clarification sessions, giving information about the transition to the local public, to IPSS (Private Institutions of Social Solidarity) and local retailers, and has also been holding meetings with parish council representatives. There has been an information campaign, with a DTT guide distributed from door-to-door, posters, brochures and guides made available in health centres, parish councils, day centres, retailers of set-top-boxes, post offices and branches of CGD. ANACOM has also distributed 50,000 copies of the DTT Journal on trains along the Sintra line and at bus stops, on the busiest streets and, on Sunday, at the doors of local churches.
The telecoms regulator has also been surveying local retailers to check availability of set-top-boxes and, through local media, has completed a survey conducted by Marktest on the migration to DTT in the parishes covered.
The vast majority of residents in the areas affected by the switch-off already have paid television, and therefore do not need to make any changes. Only people with older television sets, or who have television sets which are not compliant with the MPEG4 standard, will need to acquire a set-top-box. You do not have to subscribe to a paid television service to be able to watch DTT and the open signal television channels (RTP1, RTP2, SIC and TVI) will continue to be free.
People who need help with the transition, in addition to contacting ANACOM's helpdesk at Junta de Freguesia de Agualva, can call freephone 800 200 838 or go to the DTT website at www.tdt.telecom.pthttps://tdt.telecom.pt/. The Parish Councils covered by the migration are also able to provide any assistance required.
