03-12-2009

Slovenia introduces digital TV transmission

By Matevz Rudolf
    With only one year remaining before it ends analog TV transmissions, Slovenia has begun digital transmissions as of December 1.

    On the first day no special problems with transmission of the digital or analog signal were detected.

    As FNE reported, in early April some commercial channels owned by Pro Plus (http://24ur.com/) boycotted digital broadcasting due to high rates charged for digital broadcasting in Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial (dvb-t) which is still controlled by public broadcaster RTV (www.rtvslo.si). A solution was found when the Slovenian government decided to cover all expenses for analog transmission for TV stations that are broadcasting in both, analog and digital transmission.

    The analog signal will be canceled on December 1, 2010, when only digital signals will be available. Research shows that one third of Slovenian housekeeping will need special DVB-T recivers which now cost around 100 Euros in Slovenia.

    Seven TV station are available in digital signal: three channels of public broadcaster RTV SLO (www.rtvslo.si): Pro Plus's POP TV (http://poptv.si/), Kanal A (www.kanal-a.si) and TV Pika (www.tvpika.net): and TV3 - Viasat (www.tv3.si). Some minor regional TV stations are also included in the Slovenian digital multiplex.