The EBU is taking part in a High Level Group set up by Digital Commissioner Neelie Kroes to discuss the future of radio spectrum. EBU Director of Technology Simon Fell was in Brussels yesterday to highlight the importance of radio spectrum for digital terrestrial broadcasting. 

He said: “Public service media are focused on making great content and getting it to audiences in a way that is near universal, affordable, efficient and of guaranteed quality of service.  Digital terrestrial broadcasting is the only platform which fully meets these audience needs.  It is, and will remain for the foreseeable future, indispensable to Europe’s thriving content and TV platform industries. 250 million viewers rely on the terrestrial platform for their primary television services. Further most households use terrestrial receivers for secondary television reception.”

He added: “Broadcasters are developing exciting new services for the multi-platform environment and ever more popular content offerings delivered through connected TV sets and other devices. Combined with fixed and Wi-Fi broadband in the home offers, broadcasters can offer a wealth of programming and additional content enhancing free-to-air broadcasts with additional catch-up services.”

Chaired by former WTO President Pascal Lamy, the High Level Group involves top executives from Europe's broadcasters, network operators, mobile companies and related industry associations. It has been tasked with delivering a report by July 2014 to feed into the European Commission’s long-term strategic and regulatory policy on the future use of the whole UHF band.

The Group will look at how Europeans receive audiovisual content, including linear TV, in the long term future and how this will affect spectrum use in the UHF band. The group’s response should aim to secure public and consumer interest while facilitating market transformation.

The EBU has welcomed Commissioner Kroes’ commitment to open a dialogue with the different stakeholders with the aim of developing a long-term vision for efficient media delivery which respects consumer interests and supports universal access, consumer choice and platform competition. Decisions about the future of media delivery should ensure universal and easy access to public service media content on all relevant platforms and means of delivery.