European broadcasters welcome new spectrum commitments

Broadcast Networks Europe (BNE) – a trade organisation for terrestrial broadcast network operators in radio and TV – has welcomed the principal commitments in favour of terrestrial broadcasting from the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission in the political agreement announced ahead of the final UHF Band decision:

TV broadcasting will retain priority in the sub-700 MHz band for the foreseeable future, i.e. at least until 2030; a realistic calendar for migrating existing users from the 700 MHz is adopted, targeting 2020, but acknowledging some Member States may need until 30 June 2022; and measures to support the transition for the sector and for consumers, including the possibility for Member States to compensate migration costs related to the reallocation of the spectrum.

“The 250 million DTT viewers who appreciate free-to-air television expect that the leading television distribution platform in Europe will continue to compete and innovate,” said BNE Chairman Olivier Huart. “We are now confident that the final legislation will provide the regulatory certainty to make that happen. Policy makers have recognised the popularity of digital terrestrial television and its value to the European audiovisual market, and have acted accordingly.”

BNE’s 19 members operate in 22 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, UK and Sweden. Teracom Denmark, Levira (Estonia), Norkring België (Belgium) and MCR (Monaco) are wholly or partly owned subsidiaries and represented by their respective parent company.