Dear colleagues of Al Watanya, dear participants

Thank you very much for this kind invitation in Tripoli.

I am here in my quality of Vice President of the EBU,(the largest professional association of Public Service broadcasters of the world) to bring you the warmest and most sincere wish to be able to bring your country as soon as possible on the way of peace, progress and democracy, and to regain its the place and role in the Euro Mediterranean region that you deserve.

Of course a similar wish I express you as chairman of Rai World, because –as neighbor and long-term partner- it’s extremely important for us that situation in Libya will stabilize as soon as possible and that we can re-establish normal and fruitful relations between our two countries. In fact , as you probably are aware, in these same hours, a group of colleagues of Al Watanya, is currently in Rome at RAI for a week of training courses, in a mission of cooperation between RAI, COPEAM and Watanya.

As European Broadcasting Union (but also there is here a colleague from the ASBU – Arab States Broadcasting Union – that I’m sure shares the same view) we are extremely interested in an harmonious transition of the whole North African region from the analogue broadcasting into the Digital broadcasting, because we share the same Euro Mediterranean Radio electric spectrum and our destiny –in this field- as well as in many others, is intimately linked and related.

As you know your decisions in this field will have a direct impact with the radio electric spectrum allocation decisions in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Malta and Italy. Malta and Italy have already gone fully digital and have already started to use their digital dividend for other telecommunication applications. This is not yet the case in North Africa, but it will be soon because Tunisia and Algeria have already started to prepare themselves for the switch off in time for the ITU deadline of June 2015.

EBU in Europe –where this process has already arrived to a conclusion in most countries because of the anticipated deadline for the switch off in 2012- has assisted its members in this transition, has set up tools and recommendations, has created a pool of highly skilled engineers (Walid Sami that it’s here today with you is one of them) to assist members in negotiations at ITU, in the elaboration of national frequencies plans, in the deployment of the new transmission tools and in the reelaboration of the broadcasting strategies into the new environment. Let me underline that this activity is really in the spirit of solidarity and mutual support among members which is the characteristic feature of our association which is not only an office in Geneva , but a community of the most advanced European broadcasters, that together with UN and through their specialized organizations offer the best and most professional advice and support in technology, organization and legal issues.

The transition to digital is not a simple switch from an old technology to a new one, but it’s really an enormous opportunity to accelerate the process of the convergence, where information technology, broadcasting and telecommunications could finally interact and provide new opportunities for the development of the economy, for empowering citizens and for providing to the whole of the society new tools for a wide range of scopes.

My wish for you is that Libya could take –at this turning point of your history- the right decisions, in the interest of your whole society and of all your citizens.

This is not simply a matter of the future of your broadcasting system (even if your decision could hamper or enhance opportunities for this sector), but it affects a lot of other fields. And this is the reason why this Conference involves many different Libyan authorities.

And this is why we have invited to attend this Conference expert from many countries and fields.

All have accepted the invitation with sincere and passionate participation, because the endeavors are vast and regionally interlaced. Let’s me expose some of those.

 

Digital switchover it’s a matter of national sovereignty and security.

 

If you don’t negotiate your frequency allocation with your neighbors, you’ll have to accept their priorities into your national plan of use.

If you don’t create digital frequencies for the Libyan commercial national broadcasters, they’ll remain on satellite distribution and doing so they shall escape to your national regulations and rules.

If you don’t create digital frequencies for the national and regional communication, you’ll have a problem to deal with emergencies and natural catastrophes.

 

Digital switchover is a matter of economic development and incentive to innovation.

 

These frequencies (UHF and VHF bands) are the most effective and the most appropriate to reach citizens in their houses, because are the ones that penetrates within houses better than any other. This is why in Europe we have administered it so attentively in the last 90 years, dedicating it to satisfy in priority public interest and public service, more than economic interest and short term financial needs.

Now, with digitalization you can reallocate all your traditional broadcasting needs in less bandwidth and you can use part of this very precious spectrum for economic growth and innovative applications. This is what is called “digital dividend”.

But –based on our own experiences in Europe- we have learned that this dividend needs to be wisely administered. And that there is a mistake that you need to avoid when you go digital : to forget that these special frequencies have a vocation for public interest and need to be allocated to new services that have as primary vocation to serve public interest first. In Europe, under the pressure of the economic crisis, have sold the frequencies of the digital dividend for cashing money and have allowed their use for telecommunication services that are not at all innovative and that serve private interests more than public. For instance for simple voice communication telephony, that doesn’t need at all this special spectrum… Other countries have, on the contrary, understood the importance of this portion of the spectrum and have dedicated this space only to innovative services, new application or, at least, to mobile Internet. Germany for instance, has used this spectrum to oblige Telecom companies to provide new services to rural and mountains areas, coupling the auctions of frequencies in the richest parts of the country, to those in the regions most neglected and difficult to reach.

In times of fast changing technologies, where new amount of audiovisual offer are continuously added on any possible device, all media and public service media in particular, face unprecedented challenges. In order to preserve a pluralistic and independent environment –a key element for democracy- public broadcaster are vital as providers of quality content and trusted filters of reality and that is why they must be put in a position to compete, using all the possibilities offered by the digitalization. Digital switchover is a matter of better serving human rights and democracy In times of fast changing technologies, where new amounts of audiovisual offer are continuously added on any possible device, all media and public service media in particular, face unprecedented challenges.

In order to preserve a pluralistic and independent environment –a key element for democracy- public broadcaster are vital as providers of quality content and trusted filters of reality and that is why they must be put in a position to compete, using all the possibilities offered by the digitalization.

 

Digital switchover is a matter of better serving human rights and democracy

 

In times of fast changing technologies, where new amounts of audiovisual offer are continuously added on any possible device, all media and public service media in particular, face unprecedented challenges.

In order to preserve a pluralistic and independent environment – a key element of democracy – public broadcaster are vital as providers of quality content and trusted filters of reality and that is why they must be put in a position to compete, using the possibilities offered by digitalization.

You can use the multiplication of the digital channels to support education, distance learning, language learning and development issues, for instance allowing the launch of new specific offers. Or, in a country strongly regionalized like yours, you can decide to devote part of the spectrum to a regional and local offer of programmes, that could allow the expressions of minorities, the rise of local tv and radios to serve specific needs, creating and strengthening communities or social services and so on.

 

Last but not least, Digital switchover is also a matter of building the new future broadcasting

 

Through digitalization, of course, you can build a better offer of TV and radio. Not only through the multiplication of the available channels, but also introducing new services and new technological innovation, such as the High Definition tv (waiting for the 4 and 8 K ultra-high definition that we are already testing in Europe and Japan), such as interactive television, such as enhanced radio, such as interaction between TV signal and internet (using Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Broadband and so on).

And we hope that you –as we have done in Europe- shall use your national broadcaster (truly and fully transformed into a Public Service Broadcaster) as the cornerstone of a new pluralistic and democratic dual audiovisual media system: where public and private broadcasters contribute both to build Libya of tomorrow.

 

Conclusion

 

In these two days of discussions and reflections you’ll get a brief overview of all these possibilities ; of the risks that you have to run and of the decisions that you need to take in the short, in the mid and in the long term. This is the best we can offer from our experiences from various countries all over the world and, especially, from Europe and your neighboring countries.

Up to you, decision makers and operators of this country, in the last day of the conference, to decide what to do: this is something we cannot make for you and we don’t want to make for you. My only recommendation is: digest all this information, think about it and decide autonomously what the best is for you. We shall be near to you to assist in the way forward that you’ll decide and we wait to welcome you as soon as possible in the new community of the digital countries.