Despite the many doubts expressed by the retailer
associations, the Ministry of Economic Development has accepted the requests
made in recent months and has ordered the postponement of the switch off to
DVB-T2 .
The first step was just a few weeks away, initially
scheduled for 1 September 2021 and concerning the start of the disposal of
MPEG-2 in favor of the new MPEG-4 encoding, but even this date will not be
respected, opening up new scenarios for this. major technological change.
When is the 100 Euro TV bonus?
The news was widely in the air and the first signs had come
when the implementing decree for the 100 Euro TV bonus without ISEE limits was
signed , which is still parked at the Ministry awaiting publication in the
Official Gazette.
The new incentive is part of the perspective of accompanying
the population that is not yet equipped with decoders and televisions capable
of supporting the new standards: the estimates published in the spring spoke of
36 million TVs at risk of being unused as of 1 September 2021, as not even
capable of supporting MPEG-4 technology. A boulder that could have led to
considerable damage to the entire audiovisual industry as well as to the general
system.
It is no coincidence that the communication states that
"the objective of achieving a wide diffusion of television receivers
equipped with new technologies will have to be achieved with an intense
communication campaign starting from the next few weeks, with the presence of
new contributions open to all citizens without income and ISEE constraints
". As we said above, however, despite the officialization of the new TV
bonus, the measure is not yet in force and from publication in the Official
Gazette it will be necessary to wait another 15 days before being able to make
a formal request (here you will find all the information on the new TV bonus
from 100 Euro ).
However, the feeling is that the ceiling put on the plate by
the Government is destined to unleash a real race for resources that will not
satisfy everyone and will probably force the Executive to take new measures to
"soften" the switch off.
The new dates of the switch off to DVB-T2
Going into the details, let's analyze what is, in fact, the
new schedule of the switch-off to DVB-T2. This is an important extension which,
however, will not affect the release of frequencies for 5G , which remains
scheduled for June 2022 as originally established.
A change on this front would certainly have triggered the
protests of the telephone operators who have focused and are betting a lot on
the new generation network.
The switch to MPEG-4 encoding on DVB-T standard, previously
scheduled for September 1, 2021, has been moved to October 15, 2021 . A postponement
of a month and a half for the first step and in this regard the MISE observes
that " on the aforementioned date, the contextual shutdown at national
level of a number of representative programs in DVB-T / MPEG-2 could be
organized, using at least the coding DVB-T / MPEG-4, and this initiative would
become the object of a widespread and intensive communication campaign to make
citizens aware of the need to equip themselves with adequate television sets
".
The generalized disposal of DVB-T / MPEG-2 coding, on the
other hand, could be defined with a subsequents provision to be issued by the
end of 2021 following the technical checks.
On this front, however, the feeling is that it will go in no
particular order and the decisions will be taken by the individual broadcasters
: Rai, for example, has already made it known that only specialist channels
will switch to MPEG-4 starting from 15 October while Rai 1, Rai 2 and Rai 3
will continue to be visible in MPEG-2.
No indication instead from Mediaset and La7 which, however,
could make use of the time limit set for the end of 2021 to make a gradual
transition. The postponement of the transition to MPEG4 will also result in the
postponement for DVB-T2 : the MISE highlights that the activation of the
standard at national level will be arranged starting from January 1, 2023. The
news also concern some changes to the frequency release schedule , according
tonew calendar and the new division of areas.
The data we have available indicate that we may still be on
the high seas and that, until these dates are reached, the most total
uncertainty around the new DVB-T2 will apply, all for the happiness of
satellite systems and platforms. streaming. The real question, at this point,
is one: given the uncertainty that has been created, is it still worth focusing
on digital terrestrial? How many Italians will be willing to take the risk of
facing another postponement? We are confident that this decision will prompt
many to switch to other free platforms.
