Nicosia, Cyprus. The government on Thursday called for the temporary re-introduction of the old television broadcasting standard after thousands of complaints that the switch to the new system left viewers without reception. It proposed operating the previous DVB-T platform alongside the new DVB-T2 standard for two months while television owners make the necessary adjustments.
Government proposal
Nicodemos Damianou, Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, told the media that the government is proposing to bring back the previous DVB-T platform for a period of two months. The aim is to allow television owners time to make the adjustments needed to receive broadcasts under the new standard.
Transition to DVB-T2
The new DVB-T2 platform, which stands for Digital Video Broadcasting, Second Generation Terrestrial, was applied on July 1. It is the technical standard used for receiving over-the-air, free-to-air digital television through a standard antenna and, with greater bandwidth, supports high-definition signals.
Reception problems
The transition on July 1 left thousands of people without a television signal. The disruption affected private free-to-air channels, while public broadcasters such as CyBC were unaffected. The affected channels include Sigma, which holds the exclusive rights in Cyprus to broadcast the World Cup.
Equipment requirements
If a television set supports DVB-T2 technology, a simple re-tuning of the channels is sufficient. If it does not, viewers must purchase and install an external decoder.
Retailers said that, in general, modern televisions manufactured after 2017 should support DVB-T2, although this is not always the case in practice. In addition, many people who installed decoders were still unable to get a signal.
Hellas Sat response
Hellas Sat, which is responsible for the transition to the new standard, attributed the problems to old antenna installations, problematic wiring and non-compatible decoders on the market.
Since the switchover, the company has received a large number of calls for technical support. Christodoulos Protopapas, chief executive of Hellas Sat, said antenna amplifiers and old wiring in particular present a problem.