The Minister of Social Equipment, Jorge Coelho, announced today that Digital Terrestrial Television would commence in Portugal in 2002, promising that the Government would define, "as soon as possible", the terms of a public tender for digital broadcasting.
In the opening session of the Conference on Digital Terrestrial Television (DVB-T) organised by the Instituto de Comunicações de Portugal (ICP) and the Instituto da Comunicação Social (ICS), as part of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Council of Ministers, the Minister identified the creation of a digital market as a national "imperative" that will "improve the quality of life".
The Minister declared that the Government should create regulatory measures which "defend the public interest, the environment and safeguard the high investments" that are needed to overcome the "obvious limitations" of the existing market.
Jorge Coelho identified the need for a "significant effort" by operators to discover new forms of profitability in order to make the project of digital television viable, based on a platform for the transmission and distribution of interactive services. DVB-T will be a means to democratise Internet access, create a new digital economy and ensure the definitive implementation of services such as e-commerce, "home banking" and tele-working.
The minister recognised that Portuguese production of creative content is still insufficient to respond to the needs of the new medium, making it necessary to establish new associations between operators and content providers in order to encourage quality and creativity.
Only through "concerted action" will it be possible to ensure "economic growth and the prosperity of companies" declared the minister, guaranteeing that "the freedom, guarantees and individual rights of citizens" will be upheld so as to ensure that DVB-T is implemented in a manner that "improves the quality of life'.
The question of DVB-T requires "discussion at the highest political level" in the EU, and the conference conclusions should establish a "blueprint" for the future, which the minister will present to the next meeting of the EU Communications Council of Ministers, on May 2.
The President of the Portuguese Republic, Jorge Sampaio, emphasised the role of digital TV in the "reduction of cultural disparities" through the supply of a wider range of programmes and services. For operators, the new system will enable a reduction in transmission costs, a market for new products and a stimulus to the production of European content.
Regulatory policies must satisfy three principal responsibilities: "to uphold cultural identity, enhance citizenship and promote economic development".
Jean-Michel Baer, Director of Culture, Audiovisual Policy and Sports within the European Commission, declared that creativity will be the decisive factor in the transition period from the current analogue system to the digital universe, a transformation process which should be led by Europe.
The representative of the Commissioner for Enterprises and the Information Society, Nicholas Argyris, emphasised that the main added value of digital broadcasting lies in creative content, which should adapt to the rapid technological changes of the sector.
Argyris reminded participants that the audiovisual sector represents 15% of the Gross Domestic Product of the European Union, and is estimated to create 1 in every 4 new jobs.
Individual attempts at digital terrestrial distribution have been based on the analogue model, whose viability should be questioned given that the greatest advances in the area of digital satellite services has been based on the "pay-TV" model.
Although a global analysis may be made of the definition of content and transmission policies, each area should be managed separately, in the light of the specific nature of each sector. "Policy implementation has to evolve, even if objectives remain the same", declared Nicholas Argyris.
