The steering board of DigiTAG (Digital Terrestrial TV Action Group) yesterday issued a set of recommendations designed to protect the digital terrestrial TV (DTT) platform from interference.

It is hoped that the recommendations, issued jointly with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Broadcast Networks Europe (BNE) and Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT), will make sure the right technical safeguards are adopted by broadcasters.

In a statement DigiTAG said that new technical safeguards are needed because several national administrations have allocated the 790-862 MHz frequency band (800 MHz band), presently used for broadcasting, to fixed and mobile communications networks.

Lieven Vermaele, EBU director of technology and development said: “When viewers have problems receiving TV, they often contact their public service broadcaster to find out if there is something wrong with the service. If mobile communications were to interfere into digital broadcasting, the screen would simply go black, and the broadcaster would have no way of helping the viewer.

“It is therefore essential that great care is taken in the planning and implementation of mobile communications in the former broadcasting band, so that the risk of such confusion is totally avoided.”

The full text of the recommendations can be found on the DigiTAG website: www.digitag.org

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