Marche, Tuscany regions report ASO problems
October 27, 2011
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Italy’s Marche Region has asked for a postponement of the transition to Digital Terrestrial Television until at least 2012.
The request was made by the Region’s president, Gian Mario Spacca, in a letter addressed to the Minister for Economic Development, Paolo Romani, and to the president of the Communications Authority (AgCom), Corrado Calibre.
The postponement, according to Spacca, is necessary “to avoid serious consequences for local broadcasters and the public that the switch-off (planned for December 5-21) would create following the assignment of frequencies which would interfere with neighbouring countries bordering the Adriatic Sea (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania).
The Marche Region had pointed out the problem of uncoordinated frequencies since 2010, asking for the necessary corrections to be made.
Problems for the digital switchover (planned for the period November 4-23) have also been signalled by the president of the Tuscany region, Enrico Rossi. He has proposed that the entire process is delayed until June 2012, to give more time for a proper assessment and not to risk a Christmas without TV for a large part of the population.