The digital TV switchover which had to be completed on June 1 has been postponed for the second time, following the first postponement of the original December 31, 2010 deadline. Only two out of the six local TV stations that were supposed to be transmitting free-to-air on the new digital platform were in fact transmitting on June 1.
The advert shown on local TV making viewers aware of the June 1 digital switchover. This deadline has been missed.The scope of the switchover is to provide better picture and sound quality to TV viewers while at the same time rationalising the important and finite wireless frequencies which in recent years have spurred several new wireless services we have come to rely on.
In a short note the Malta Communications Authority, a leading institution within the Digital Switchover Committee entrusted with the changeover, said: "The necessary legal and administrative matters are in their final stages. Following the adoption of the amendments to the Broadcasting Act, the Broadcasting Authority will be in a position to launch a selection process to determine which additional interested stations will be carried on this network."
Ironically on June 1, the day when all local analogue TV signals were to be switched off for good in this historical step for Maltese TV Parliament had Bill No. 75 – Broadcasting ( Amendment) Bill, ready for the third and final reading. The bill would then have to be signed by the President of Malta and published in the Government Gazette to become effective.
At the time of going to print the MCA has not yet announced a new date for the complete switchover. However, according to the authority, " the digital, free-to-air network has been up and running since December and all technical matters have been concluded. Currently, the public broadcasting stations, TVM and ED22, are transmitting on this digital free-to-air network. Those households not equipped to receive digital signal are encouraged to prepare themselves for the change as conventional transmissions will soon be switched off."
Some 4,760 households still rely on free-to-air transmissions received via conventional rooftop aerials to watch Maltese TV.
A few days before the June 1 deadline i-Tech had reported how NET, One and Smash TV were not yet transmitting on the new digital freeto-air platform, although they could do so. After adding TVM and ED22, the sixth available slot on this new platform will be assigned after the amendments to the Broadcasting Act come into force.
To watch the local ' general interest' stations on the new free-to-air platform TV viewers need to have a digital set-top box or a TV set with inbuilt digital terrestrials TV decoder. TV subscribers to Melita and Go will not be affected at all.
The digital switchover is an EUwide exercise to stop the transmission of analogue terrestrial TV stations and in turn use the digital signals, which are more efficient in terms of frequencies and provide better picture and sound quality. According to the European Commission this has to be completed in all EU member states by the end of 2012.
Indeed Malta would have been among the first batch of EU countries to conclude the national switchover if it had kept the original December 31, 2010 deadline. However, this newspaper last January had reported that the switchover had been postponed to June 1, 2011 " to make sure everything is in place". While technically everything seemed to be place, it was the administration and management of the whole exercise that has led to the second postponement.
Maltese TV viewers have to be aware that the EU-wide switchover also involves Italy, whose analogue TV signals have been enjoyed in Malta for decades. Digital terrestrial TV signals from Sicily will be weaker than the older analogue signals and their transmission to Malta will be more difficult. The digital switch - over will only guarantee the viewing of six Maltese TV stations free-to-air on the new digital platform.
More details on the digital switchover are available at www.dso.org.mt