Services including Freeview in the UK and Saorview in Ireland won’t be expected to switch off at the end of the decade.
After four weeks of negotiation, delegates at the World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-23) opted to safeguard UHF frequencies for terrestrial TV in Europe.
The WRC-23 was organised by the ITU, an executive agency of the United Nations responsible for the global coordination of radio frequency spectrum. It took place in Dubai, but was rather overshadowed by COP28 taking place at the same time.
The end result
Terrestrial TV services will continue to enjoy primary use of the 470 – 694 MHz frequency band and won’t need to come to an abrupt end in 2030.
Was this a problem?
Such was the concern that terrestrial TV frequency allocations would be rescinded after 2030 that Ofcom was instructed to insert a revocation clause on all new multiplex licences.
Whether Ofcom exercises that right will not be down to the WRC, but decisions made in the UK about the future of terrestrial TV. It’s due to report back to Government in 2025 following a consultation.
Are the broadcasters happy?
Continental broadcasters were busy lobbying to ‘save our spectrum’ in the past year. In the UK, tumbleweeds.
At present, all digital terrestrial TV multiplexes look set to run until 2034 only.
Cash-strapped Public Service Broadcasters haven’t come out in support of retaining terrestrial TV. There is little to no investment in upgrading more services to the newer DVB-T2 standard, let alone to HEVC encoding.
The UK, which once led with DVB-T2 introduction, has now fallen way behind.
In fact the multiplex licence for the Freeview HD multiplex (PSB3) is the only licence that hasn’t been renewed and where the licence holder – the BBC – has been on the record as being reluctant to commit to a licence renewal when the DCMS consulted on licence renewals.
What investment there is, is flowing into the development of streaming service Freely.
Elsewhere in Europe, the Republic of Ireland is also gearing up to launch a streaming-based solution to succeed the DTT platform Saorview.
But in France, there’s talk of upgrading more terrestrial TV services to 4K UHD.
In Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, 5G Broadcast trials have taken place, with many seeing the technology as the future universal free platform for Public Service Media.
5G Broadcast works on mobile devices, including potential 5G-capatible TVs, without the need for a SIM card. It does not require a subscription and data consumption won’t count towards any data allowance. It can be used at home and on the move.
The WRC-23 decision will allow individual countries to now press on with developing free-to-air TV how they see fit without the axe having to fall in 2030.
In the UK, it seems digital terrestrial TV will be allowed to have a natural death at some point in the next decade, likely after 2034, given the general apathy on the matter.
But don’t the majority of people watch TV over wi-fi?
No. The number of broadband-only TV homes in the UK is currently around 15%.
That’s still high given streaming TV platforms like Sky Stream and VM Stream have only been around for a short time, and prior to that being a broadband-only TV user would have involved navigating in and out of various apps to access content, instead of having them all in one place.
Millions more of course are hybrid, but still rely on a terrestrial, cable or satellite service for reception of key services.
People don’t watch linear TV anymore
Linear TV use is declining. But Ofcom’s analysis on the matter earlier this year showed channels like BBC One and ITV 1 still benefit from large audiences for major news, sports and cultural events.
So there will need to be some way of accessing linear or live TV in the future, even if it’s just a much smaller group of main channels only. Perhaps we’ll end up with five main channels again.
OK, so what else was decided at WRC-23?
A record of what the WRC-23 has decided are found in a document called the “Provisional Final Acts”.
It confirms that while terrestrial TV will continue to enjoy primary use of the UHF TV spectrum, a secondary allocation for mobile will exist in most European countries including the UK and Ireland.
But any mobile service will have to play second fiddle to broadcasting.
The WRC-23 says “For the protection of the broadcasting service, stations in the mobile service shall not create a field strength for more than 1% of the time at the highest of the clutter height or 10m above ground level at the border of the territory of any other administration that exceeds the field strength value as calculated using § 4.1.3.2 of Annex 2 to the GE06 Agreement with regard to allowance for multiple interference.”
However, in countries where terrestrial TV has already been wound down (e.g., Switzerland, with the exception of a small number of near-border transmitters retransmitting Swiss networks for the benefit of cross-border cable networks), this allocation will be of interest. And it may be of interest even in the UK.
The UK doesn’t appear to be interested in 5G Broadcast, so the UK’s mobile operators, of which all but one are also major players in the fixed-line broadband market (two also have their own TV platform and have a vested interest in shutting DTT), may now start lobbying to remove terrestrial TV sooner.
In the UK, the future direction of travel in terms of broadcasting is to ensure all homes have universal access to full fibre fixed line broadband.
With three companies – BT/EE, Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 – having dominance in both mobile and fixed line broadband, there are calls for less well-off homes to gain broader access to social tariffs, which in the future will ensure they can access basic TV services.
What about satellite?
The three satellites that provide the UK and Ireland with direct-to-home satellite from Sky and Freesat – Astra 2E, 2F and 2G – all reach end of life before the end of this decade. They’re operated by Luxembourg’s SES.
SES would need a firm commitment from a variety of UK broadcasters to justify sending up more satellites for another 15 years to keep satellite TV running in its current form. This appears unlikely.
What about use of frequencies for Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE)?
Big events like the recent Coronation and Eurovision wouldn’t be possible without the use of spare UHF frequencies for Programme Making. And PMSE will continue to be able to use the spectrum on a secondary basis going forward in the UK, Ireland and numerous other countries across ITU Region 1.
The global situation
Frequency allocations are based on three global regions. The UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa are part of the aforementioned ITU Region 1.
Within this region, some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, have been allowed to reallocate 614 – 694 MHz for primary use by mobile companies.
This isn’t a surprise. Mobile industry lobbyist GSMA has long taken an interest in the development of digital terrestrial TV in the region, concluding back in 2015 that the countries don’t need all that spectrum for TV. And the mobile industry has that spectrum.
Spain and Italy will not have a secondary allocation for mobile in the UHF TV band.
Both countries are intense users of the UHF band for digital terrestrial TV with Italy continuing on its roadmap to switch to HEVC encoding and add more HD channels. Spain has been testing 4K and even 8K UHD.
In Germany, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Liechtenstein, Serbia and Switzerland, the bottom of the UHF band (470 – 494 MHz) can also be used by wind profiler radars.
Across ITU Region 2 (the Americas), broadcasting continues to have allocations in the UHF band (primary allocation in 470 – 512 MHz and 614 – 698 MHz, alongside secondary allocations for fixed and mobile services; exclusive use of 512 – 608 MHz, co-primary use with mobile on 698 – 806 MHz).
Actual use differs considerably from country to country and realistically, mobile use dominates. The USA, for example has mobile services in the 600 MHz band, with terrestrial broadcasts on lower frequencies.
In Region 3 (Asia, excluding Middle East plus Oceania), broadcasting has co-primary allocations, meaning it has no exclusive rights over spectrum.
Here’s an overview from the WRC-23 Provisional Final Acts document, which doesn’t include the various country-specific additions, modifications, and additional allocations, such as the secondary allocation for PMSE and mobile in the UK and Ireland.
Is that the end of the battle for terrestrial TV frequencies?
Not at all. I’ve heard that the 600 MHz chunk of spectrum will be discussed at WRC-31 in a decision that would affect frequency use by 2040.
By then, it might no longer be an issue. Indeed, the UK may have already allocated spectrum to mobile networks after 2035. It would be allowed to allocate to mobile on a secondary basis under the additional allocation clause inserted into the WRC-23 Provisional Final Acts document:
Acknowledgements
PICTURED: Arqiva transmitter in Northern Ireland. COPYRIGHT: The TV Room.