ANACOM - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações and DECO have concluded a cooperation agreement to conduct one hundred clarification sessions on DTT across the whole of Portugal.
The partnership has been established given the alignment of the two organisations' remits: ANACOM is charged with answering queries from the public on migration to DTT, whereas DECO's goal is to ensure that this information minimises costs and helps consumers make the most suitable choices in this process.
Under the partnership terms agreed, 100 "DTT Information" sessions will be held in Portugal's 18 districts, and an additional 10 sessions will be held in areas with satellite coverage. As well as consumers, the public targeted by these sessions comprises technical personnel from Municipal Councils, Parishes, regional authorities, IPSS organisations, retailers and installers, focusing on the capacity of these groups to multiply the spread of information.
As such, ANACOM and DECO are replicating, on a national level, the model which has been used successfully in the pilot zones where migration to digital terrestrial television has already been accomplished without major disruptions and with very few families left temporarily without television.
The first sessions will be held in zones affected by the first phase of the switch-off of analogue television signals (scheduled for 12 January), and will be rolled out into other areas according to the switch-off schedule.
A large number of sessions have already been scheduled in Lisbon, Mangualde, Paços de Ferreira, Penedono, Águeda, Ovar, Figueira da Foz, São Bartolomeu do Outeiro, Torres Novas, Braga, Amadora, Vila Franca de Xira…
All sessions will be conducted by technically qualified DECO personnel with specific training.
For complete information on the process of Transition to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and on the "DTT Information" sessions, please see the following websites:
- www.anacom.pthttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=2958
- www.deco.proteste.pt/associacaohttp://www.deco.proteste.pt/associacao/
The analogue television signal in Portugal will be switched off in phases, first of all in coastal areas on 12 January, in Madeira and the Azores on 22 March and finally in the interior areas of the country on 26 April.
The transition to DTT does not entail the payment of any monthly fee, and there is no requirement to contract paid television services.
Cooperation from the press and from the media in this process is very important. We are counting on their support.