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EU urged to protect the future of Free TV across Europe
Digital UK and fellow members of the Wider Spectrum Group1 urged policy makers to secure airwaves used by Freeview and European terrestrial services ahead of major international decisions on spectrum allocation at the World Radiocommunication Conference next month.
Access to sufficient spectrum is critical to sustaining Europe's creative and cultural industries, which taken at large account for around 6 per cent of the EU's GDP (€860 billion) and approximately 14 million direct and indirect jobs. However, decisions at this year's WRC could see remaining TV airwaves opened up to mobile networks.
The discussions were attended by Günther Oettinger, EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, and Pascal Lamy, Chairman of the High Level Group and author of a recent report on the future of the UHF band. Speaking at the event, Mr Lamy noted that his recommendations, including safeguarding TV spectrum to 2030, now form the 'backbone' of EU spectrum policy.
Jonathan Thompson, CEO of Digital UK, said: 'Broadcasting remains a vital technology but is already using less and less spectrum to deliver more and more content for consumers - can the mobile sector say the same thing? There is also a big question as to which spectrum is best suited to new uses such as 5G, with all indications that the focus should be on higher frequencies.
'The Lamy report offers us a win-win scenario delivering both room for mobile broadband to grow and protection for DTT. It provides a sensible, pragmatic solution with the time for a further review of spectrum use is 10-years' time - let's stop having the same endless debate.'
Paul Hide, Director of Operations, techUK commented:
"The UK free-to-view offering is the primary television content of choice for UK viewers. We believe that it is vital that the UK has a robust future strategy plan both for the future of free-to-view and also for the future of the digital terrestrial broadcasting platform. We aim to work closely with Members, Digital UK and the wider stakeholder groups to ensure that we have a plan that is both strategically robust and implementable".
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