The satellite is the most trustworthy alternative with plemas guarantees to extend the television coverage, topcoat in those areas with orographical difficulties, as it is the case of Cantabria, where there exist groups of population who cannot gain access to the emission or do it in very deficient conditions.
To solve this problem and as it happens already in other European countries, how in France where the offer of the TDT is distributed by satellite, Cantabria summoned a contest at the beginning of year to which four companies appeared. These were Abertis, Telecom Castilla-La Mancha, Phone companhy and SES Astra. The contest for 4,5 million euros and 36 months of development solved in March in favor of SES Astra and the contract was signed during the summer.
But when it seemed that everything was to point to start the technical teams that were allowing to make come the sign of the satellite TDT only to Cantabria, the Regional Society Cantabria I+D+i sent a letter to Astra in which it was giving for the contract cancelled.
The autonomic Executive argues that it is a question of a decision of the central Administration of reaching a coverage of 100 % of the digital television in the whole territory.
Before this new situation, SES Astra makes sure that the rupture of the agreement is a product of the pressures that they lead to a fact monopoly in a sector as strategic as that of the terrestrial audio-visual communications and for satellite, and adds that the cancellation of the agreement will delay the digitization in Cantabria and will affect to thousands of hearths in the community.
In Spain, the blackout will come two years before the limit marked by the European Commission (2012). France, for example, wants to complete the process in November, 2011. By that time, the coverage will have to come to 95 % of the population, and in the areas not covered by the terrestrial diffusion a free access is foreseen across an offer by satellite.
(18/11/08) |
The operator 
