Centralised digital decoders to be allowed in cable TV apartment houses

Publicity forces broadcaster to make quick decision

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The Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) and the Ministry of Transport and Communications confirmed on Tuesday that apartment houses and office buildings with centralised television antennas will be allowed to convert digital television signals into analogue signals with the help of a centralised digital decoder, but only if each household is given access to the original digital signal as well.
      Such a move would make it possible for those with old analogue television sets to receive broadcasts after normal analogue broadcasting in Finland ends from the beginning of September without buying a separate digital decoder.
      The YLE Board of Directors agreed on the move in a telephone conference convened on Tuesday after Helsingin Sanomat had published a story on the company’s new policies on the digital issue.
     
"The matter had to be decided quickly, after it became a part of public debate. A decision had been under preparation for weeks, so this is not a matter that was decided at the spur of the moment. The decision would have come in April in any case", says YLE Director General Mikael Jungner.
      The public service broadcaster’s new policy concerns all buildings linked with an antenna or cable television network.
      The law on communications marketing does not allow cable television companies to convert digital broadcasts into an analogue format, but housing companies will be allowed to do it, as long as digital signals will also be available to homes and businesses involved.
      In an interview with YLE News on Tuesday, Jyrki Ojala, the head of the Cable Television Association, said that cable TV companies should also be allowed to decode digital signals.
     
Mikael Jungner calculates that there are about 80,000 building-based television distribution networks, about half of which are antenna-based, and the other half are linked with cable TV.
      "It is a question of hundreds of thousands of households. The precise number is hard to define."
     
On Monday, YLE Administrative Director Jussi Tunturi told Helsingin Sanomat that the move does not constitute a change in policy on the part of YLE. Tunturi says that the company had not known of technology that would make it possible to offer analogue and digital signals at the same time.
      On Tuesday, Jungner disagreed. He said that YLE has known about the technical options for several years, and that the latest move was a clear change of course.
      Jungner said that the desire of some property owners to convert the digital signal to analogue came as a surprise to YLE.
      "Converting a digital signal to analogue costs money, as an absolute precondition for the conversion is that the digital signal must also be available. Technology is also moving forward in that in the future it will be hard to find analogue televisions, for instance, we did not see this as a very attractive option. But housing companies can now decide whether or not they want to invest in old technology."
     
YLE’s change of heart brought surprised reactions from the Ministry of Transport and Communications. On Tuesday morning, the ministry asked YLE for a report on the matter, and later said that television signals can be received in the manner described by YLE.
      Ministry official Liisa Ero emphasises that analogue broadcasts represent antiquated technology, and she hopes that digital decoders in the individual households would be the main means with which people watch digital broadcasts.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Centralised digital decoders to be allowed in apartment houses (4.4.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat