The Portuguese Government has provided assurances that DTT broadcasting will continue in the future.

The confirmation came from the Secretary of State for Infrastructures, Hugo Santos Mendes, during a Parliamentary hearing, who added that the Government is in negotiations with DTT network operator Altice Portugal (Meo).

This follows uncertainty regarding the future plans of Altice Portugal (Meo) which has until December 9th to inform the National Communications Authority (Anacom) of its decision. The operator was issued a DTT network operator licence in December 9th 2008 that is valid for 15 years.

Currently, there are 4.4 million subscribers to pay-TV services in Portugal, while five per cent of households receive free-to-air TV via DTT, which offers only seven TV channels (RTP1, RTP2, SIC, TVI, RTP3, RTP Memoria, and Canal Parlamento).

Since the launch of DTT in Portugal, the service has been the target of successive criticisms regarding coverage, the limited TV offer, costs charged and the alleged lack of profitability for the concessionaire.

Other posts by :

1. Italy joins Germany in IRIS2 alternate thoughts
2. Kazakhstan to create museum at Yuri Gagarin launch site
3. AST SpaceMobile gets $42 or $1500 price target
4. Analyst: GEO bloodbath taking place
5. SES AGM results: Appaloosa still objecting
6. SpaceX’s Shotwell worth $1.2bn
7. SpinLaunch’s revolutionary plan for 280 satellites
8. Consolidation impacts satellite sector
9. Project Kuiper plans first satellite launch

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTT/DSO, Policy, Regulation

Tags: anacom, DTT, meo, portugal