Digital television is the system of broadcasting television using digital signals. Digital signals are a flux of information (audio, video and data) represented as a serie of numbers ones and zeros, meaning that an electronic signal is there or it is not there.

By Francesca Burichetti (francesca.burichetti@alice.it)

• SOFA TV

• DESKTOP TV

• HAND TV

Web TV

Satellite TV

Iptv

Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT)

Mobile TV

The motivation behind development of digital television can be traced back to the history of analogical broadcasting. In fact at the end of 1980s in the USA the main players of the broadcasting industry convinced the FCC to create a committee to study the desirability and the potential impact of the switch on digital television.

So, at the beginning of 1988 a lot of different high definition television systems (both analogical and digital) were tested.

The main problem that broadcasters faced in creating interactive and advanced television was that the broadcast spectrum was already saturated with analogical signals. The only possible solution seemed to be the switch to a digital system.

An analogical signal of the same quality of a digital one requires significantly greater bandwidth. Starting from this point of view the FCC decided to implement a pro-all digital policy in the 1990s.

While the USA decided to develop an all digital system, Japan preferred to adopt a mixed system (analogical and digital) for high definition tv. The Japan arrived first in the development of its HDTV standard, but it had no success. Even if the USA developed their system later, they won, because of the better quality of their all-digital system.

Japanese Government adopted the “Muse” system since the 1979, but the market was not ready for the HDTV and the product was not attractive.

USA DTV was on the market only in the 1997, but its quality was better and the products resulted attractive for the end users. USA adopted the ATSC standard.

In the same years also the European countries launched on the market their digital tv, using the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) standard.

Nowdays on the global market different closed standards exist.

Digital signal compression

Larger number of channels and tv programmes

Possibility to achieve also people who is travelling

Interactive consumption

Better audiovisual quality

High involvment of the end user (paticipation)

Schedule’s personalization

Public and social communication

… Pluralism?

DIGITAL DIVIDE

Low digital and IT alphabetization

Scarce bandwidth coverage

Low literacy rate in some world areas

The broadcasters have to cope with high cost to have access to new technologies and to the know how to use them. At the moment the market presents high entrance barriers for new comers and little players.

Problems in the copyright protection (piracy and illegal download of contents).

TRUST MARKET

It has been the way to protect the electronic industry that is coping with an hard and difficult economic crisis since the end of the 1980s.

It is the best opportunity to develop and strengthen the Information Society.

It is the only possible solution to the problem of frequency band scarcity

Viviane Reding is the EU commissioner for Information Society and Media. She is a very active member of the Group of the European Commission focused on the Lisbon Strategy, so she works for a concrete contribution to the development of the ICT sector.

The European Commission and the Member States of the EU are working together in developing European Information Society, that is a very important goal to create a competitive Europe.

Creating an open and competitive single market for Information Society and Media Services within the EU.

Increasing EU investment in research on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by 80%.

Promoting an inclusive European Information Society to close the gap of the digital divide.

This new directive will amends and rename the actual Television Without Frontiers Directive and will be transposed in national law by the end of 2009.

The main principles will not be changed:◦ promoting the production and the distribution of

European works, paying attention also to independent content producers;

◦ access of the public to all the major (sports) events;◦ protection of minors.

What’s new?

The new Directive takes into account also the on demand (non-linear) contents. Linear and non-linear contents are treated differently, considering the end user control over the service.

On Demand services are thus subject to lighter regulation.

In this way the Directive protects minors, ensures accessible services to people and, at the same time, recognizes the fundamental role of the user’s choice and his responsibility in the new On Demand environment.

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At the end of the 2007 more than 50% of European families had an access to a digital television.

Abitazioni TV in Europa Occidentale per tecnologia, 2007

Tdt34%

Cavo Digitale

18%

Iptv6%

Satellite42%DTV

54%

Analogico46%

Western Europe digital access at the end of 2007.

This technology is the way to broadcast digital television services using terrestrial frequencies.

Thanks to the signal compression, DTT allows to provide a greater number of channels with the same quality of the ones provided by analogical conventional tv.

Main standards:ATSC (in North America and South Korea).

ISDB-T in Japan and Brazil.

DVB-T in Europe, Australia, New Zeland, Columbia, Uruguay and some States of Africa.

BENEFITS OF DTT

Greater number of channels and better quality

Interactive services

T-Government

Cheapness

Easy to be used

UNIVERSALITY

PROBLEMS OF DTT

Technical problems due to the scarce diffusion of the broadband

Low success of the interactive services

Incomplete coverage of the signal

The analogical switch-off and the passage to digital terrestrial tv is the best solution to solve the problems of frequency scarcity.

For this reason in the Geneva 2006 Agreement, regulating frequency usage in Europe, Africa and parts of Asia, national administrations agreed to stop their analogical services along their borders by 2015.

In Europe the last data for the switch-off has been fixed at 31st December 2012.

Europe is leading the world in the process of the analogical switch-off, to free up the radio-television spectrum and to ensure citizens the advantages due to digital tv.

The digital terrestrial tv grows very quickly in Europe. The e-Media Institute observed that at the end of 2008, 13 million of new European families adopted digital television.

According to a research (made in France, Germany, Italy, UK and Spain) 50% of 13 millions families were DTT adopters.

COUNTRY BASIC BOUQUET

PREMIUM BOUQUET

SINGLE CHANNELS

PAY PER VIEW

Finland X

France X X

UK X X

Italy X X

Netherlands X X

Sweden X X X

This table summarizes the main strategies used by European pay-tv operators on the DTT. You can observe that many use the 5 bundling strategies.

The image indicates the phases of Italian switch-off.

The digital terrestrial tv is very important for our country because we have no cable tv, so it is the best way to have a multi-channel service. Also for this reason we have a strong pay tv service on DTT, differently by other European countries.

Satellite television is a TV system in which the signals are transmitted to an orbiting satellite that receives the signals, amplifies them and transmits them back to the earth.

The end user can receive these signals trough a proper dish and a set top box.

This has been the first successful digital tv in Europe.

BENEFITS OF SAT TV

Large availability of channels

National and international coverage

Trasmission of a lot of high definition contents

PROBLEMS OF SAT TV

Expensive and often private service

Low interactive services

Technical problems

Thanks to its high number of channels the satellite tv is the best digital platform for pay tv all over Europe.

Sat TV is the queen of premium contents and of thematic television.

In Italy we have only a pay tv provider on satellite tv: Sky Italia (owned by NewsCorporation). So we have a monopoly: there is no competition on this digital platform.

Sky Italia was born in 2003 as a result of a merger between Stream and Telepiù (the two old competitors on Italian market). The merger has been allowed by the European Commission to avoid a market downturn.

Until 2005 Sky Italia was the unique pay tv provider on Italian market, but now competition is emerging, thanks to DTT development

The Iptv is a system where the digital tv is delivered over the Internet Protocol (IP), thanks to a network infrastructure (multicast), usually based on broadband connection.

It is considered a form of cable television and it is usually delivered by telecommunication providers that buy contents from other broadcasters or content producers.

This service is usually sold in bundling with phone and Internet services (“triple play strategy”).

BENEFITS OF IPTV

Highest number of available channels

Efficient communication and feedback channel between providers and consumers

Best effort for the interactive services and personalization opportunities (VOD).

PROBLEMS OF IPTV

Expensive service, based on closed standard

Scarce broadband diffusion

The main research institutes forecast a strong growth for this technology by the 2012, overall in Asia and in West Europe, where the typical cable tv is not widespread.

The image (by Gartner Research Group) indicates the numbers of subscribers in different areas of the world.

SERVICE PROVIDER

COUNTRY NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS

France Telecom France 577.000

Telefonica Spanish 383.000

Free France 310.000

Neuf Telecom France 300.000

Fastweb Italy 170.000

Belgacom Belgium 140.000

Tiscali UK United Kingdom 45.000The data are updated at the end of 2006 by e-Media Institute Research

This table shows that the most advanced European country in the IPTV sector is France followed by Spain and Italy.

The Web Tv is a digital system television delivered over the Web. It is not the same as Iptv even though both use the Internet Protocol.

The Iptv is based on a closed and proprietary network (multicast), while the Web Tv is based on the open, unicast Web. Every one can upload and distribute a video on the Web!

Web Tv is based on one to one communication so it is at the opposite side of traditional broadcasting.

WHO ARE THE WEB TV SERVICE PROVIDERS AND

CONTENT PRODUCERS?

Television Broadcasters (as ABC in USA)

Other kinds of broadcasters coming from the radio or newspaper world (Corriere.it Tv)

Web Publishers (as Current Tv or Messenger Tv)

Telecommunication companies (Yalp! Tv)

End users (User Generated Contents)

VIDEO SHARING SITES (YouTube, DailyMotion, Hulu)

Corporate televisions

BENEFITS OF WEB TV

Open and interactive platform

High personalization power and possibility of choice for the end users

New format and kind of contents (UGC)

Focused advertisements

Low cost and free services

Catch-up tv consumption

PROBLEMS OF WEB TV

Technical limits and low quality

Piracy phenomenon

Inadequacy for live contents

Uncertainty of the business model

Lack of a clear definition of the “view”

COUNTRY TELEVISION

France 48%

Spanish 38%

Germany 36%

Italy 35%

United Kingdom 32%

Percentage of Internet users that in 2007 used also Web Tv services. (Data communicated by the Idate Research Group)

Number of Web Tv in various countries of the World.

Is Web Tv a real threat for Sofa Tv?

Will UGC and piracy destroy premium contents?

Which business model will win in the future, free to air or pay tv?

Do new platforms represent a true opportunity for new comers and small players?