European and Global Developments - Digital Broadcasting
In order to progress the change from analogue to digital TV, the European Commission has designated 2012 as the year by which analogue terrestrial TV transmissions will cease in Europe. Ireland has indicated its intention to meet this 2012 deadline by switching off the national analogue network in Q4 of 2012.
Information regarding digital terrestrial television services throughout Europe and beyond can be found at the following link http://www.digitag.org/.
More widely, at the Regional Radiocommunication Conference held in Geneva in 2006 (Ge-06), participating countries across Europe (including Ireland), Africa and the Middle East agreed that from 2015 analogue terrestrial TV frequencies would no longer be protected from interference from other services. In effect this means that in many countries throughout the world, analogue TV will no longer be available after 2015.
Digital Switchover in the United Kingdom
The development of subscription free digital broadcasting networks started in the UK in 1998. The United Kingdom has planned a regional approach to switching off its analogue TV network which started in October 2007 and ends in Q4 of 2012.
The closure of the analogue network in the UK will have an impact on viewers in Ireland who currently receive their UK TV channels through overspill. In particular, a number of households in the southeast of the country and a number of households located in proximity to the border with Northern Ireland receive BBC1, BBC2, UTV and Channel 4 as a result of overspill from UK based analogue TV networks in Wales and Northern Ireland.
Analogue overspill from Wales has now ceased following the switch off of the analogue network in Wales which happened in late 2009 and early 2010. Overspill from the digital transmitters in Wales may be possible in some areas along the East and south East of the country.
The Northern Ireland analogue TV networks are set to be switched off on 24th October 2012.
The main UK digital TV services are also broadcast free to air from the Astra satellite. Overspill from the UK is possible throughout Ireland over this satellite.
Further details of the UK digital switchover process can be found at this link.