Digital terrestrial television: agenda set

The agenda for the International Conference on Digital Terrestrial Television has been set. The debate will be divided into three principal areas: technological and market impacts, implementation models and Community initiatives. These areas will be analysed via three working groups, responsible for debating the various questions involved and drawing the corresponding conclusions.

The conclusions will be widely disseminated, and hopefully contribute towards clarifying some of the questions related to Digital Terrestrial Television (DVB-T - Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial).

The Conference forms part of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Council and is jointly organised by the Instituto das Comunicações de Portugal (Portuguese Communications Institute - ICP) and the Instituto da Comunicação Social (Institute for the Media - ICS). The Conference will be held on February 17 and 18 in the Hotel Meridien Park Atlantic, in Lisbon.

The first working group is dedicated to Technological and Market Aspects of DVB-T, which will evaluate the impact of digital terrestrial television on the services to be supplied to citizens and the necessary adaptations that must be made by content producers, equipment manufacturers and access providers.

This working group aims to clarify the key characteristics of DVB-T, in comparison with other television transmission standards, and analyse the development of digital television across its various platforms (terrestrial, cable and satellite) and the role of telecommunications and television operators in the context of convergence.

Implementation Models and Public-Interest Objectives is the topic of the second working group. This working group aims to evaluate the extent to which a balance can be established between imperatives of economic efficiency for the services provided and the need to avoid info-exclusion, preserve pluralism and guarantee market stability. Analysis will also be made of implementation strategies of digital terrestrial television in EU Member-States and non-EU countries.

In the light of these strategies, questions associated with the introduction of digital terrestrial television will be discussed, as well as the positions already taken in other countries in relation to other delivery platforms.

The third working group will concentrate upon Community Initiatives and Policies, and will survey Community initiatives with impact upon the introduction of DVB-T in the EU area and reflect upon the strategic importance of the implementation of digital terrestrial television in Europe, in the present context of market globalisation. This working group should also consider the contribution of this technology for the development of the Information Society.

Programme

Hotel Le Meridien Park Atlantic, Lisbon, 17 and 18 February, 2000

^{Note:
Working Group 1: Technological and Market Aspects of DVB-T
Working Group 2: Implementation Models and Public-Interest Objectives
Working Group 3: Community Initiatives and Policies}

Consult:

• Conference on Digital Terrestrial Television (DVB-T) - February of 2000 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=2969