With the switch-off of the analogue television relay in Cacém on 16 June, eight parishes in the municipality of Sintra joined Alenquer by entering the era of digital television. The process was extremely positive, demonstrating, as in Alenquer, that the switch-over to digital television can take place smoothly and without major difficulties. Very few people were left without television, so long as they prepared for the transition in advance.
The switch-off of the analogue television relay in Cacém concluded a process of technical preparation and a communication plan involving a range of national and local media, gaining intensity in recent weeks.
This first process of migration to DTT took a three pronged approach: a strong focus on providing information to citizens - in the area covered by the relay, the active involvement of local communities, and close oversight of the process.
Four days after the switch-off, it is possible to affirm that the process was successful. According to information compiled by ANACOM through its public attendance service, the DTT helpline (the number given in the message broadcast by Cacém's analogue relay) and from the eight Juntas de Freguesia (Parish Councils), around 120 families were left without television following the switch-off of the analogue relay, representing around 0.5% of the families affected by the transition.
This number is far lower than expected, given that around 10 days before the relay's switch-off, a survey conducted by ANACOM found that around one thousand families could be left without television.
The process was successful, but showed that a tendency among people to leave preparations until the last minute, when there is a risk that they could be left with no television or that they will have to make the transition under conditions that may not be in their best interests.
ICP-ANACOM will continue implementing the communication plan, with involvement of partners and ongoing oversight, which will gradually be extended across the country - focusing especially, in coming months, on the pilot areas of Nazaré/Alcobaça. In the meantime, ICP-ANACOM calls on all citizens who will affected by the migration - homes which only have the channels RTP1, RTP2, SIC and TVI (RTP1 and RTP Azores or RTP Madeira, in the respective autonomous regions) and which receive the signal through traditional television aerials on the roof (via terrestrial reception) - to prepare for DTT and get ready in good time for the switch-off of analogue television.
As with analogue television, everyone can watch digital television entails no monthly payment and you do not need to subscribe to a paid television.
