Latest amendments to Broadcasting Bill passed to Dáil
The latest amendments to the 2008 Broadcasting Act have been passed to the Irish Parliament’s House of Representatives (the Dáil).
The amendments concern the creation of a new super regulatory authority established along the lines of the UK’s Ofcom. The new organisation is to be known as the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) and will replace the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI), the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) and other presently consulted organisations.
The wording concerning the switch over to DTT has also been modified to allow some additional leeway. The new proposal is that instead of at least 90% free-to-air coverage being available by the 31st December 2009 that the wording will be that approximately 90% of the population would be covered. In addition it is also proposed that the free-to-air DTT coverage will be the same as that provided by analogue TV by the 31st December 2011 or such later date as may be specified by the Minister.
If the changes are agreed they will go to the President for signing into law as the Broadcasting Act 2009.
Source: Broadband TV News with additional information sources from Seo Cáthain
Item added: 22nd June 2009
One Vision gets Irish DTT licence
The Broadcast Commission of Ireland (BCI) has awarded the licence for the three national DTT multiplexes to the One Vision consortium.
This follows the withdrawal of the original winner, the Boxer-Communicorp. Consortium from the DTT licensing procedure, after reported difficulties in negotiating with RTÉ Networks Limited, the transmission Company and operator of the public multiplex.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 18th May 2009
OneVision wants DTT licence
THE ONEVISION consortium of Eircom, TV3 and Setanta Sports has decided to enter talks with the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) with a view to landing the commercial digital terrestrial television (DTT) licence that was recently handed back by the Denis O’Brien-led Boxer group, according to reports in the Irish Times web addition..
It is understood that OneVision, which is chaired by Fintan Drury and includes specialist DTT provider Arqiva, will make public its intention to hold talks with the BCI in the coming days.
OneVision was second to Boxer in the beauty parade last year for the DTT licence.
OneVision had originally proposed a “basic” offering of 23 channels, costing €9.99 a month. It also wanted to offer premium sports and movie content and indicated that it would invest €40 million in the project. This original package is likely to be re-negotiated because of the current financial situation
Source: Irish Times
Item added: 12th May 2009
BCI confirms Boxer decision to withdraw applications for DTT multiplex contracts
The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has today (April 20th) confirmed the decision of Boxer DTT Limited (‘Boxer’) to withdraw its applications for the three DTT Multiplex Contracts.
Boxer has cited prevailing and anticipated economic circumstances, in addition to challenges in successfully concluding a contract with RTÉ Networks Limited, to the satisfaction of both parties, for the provision of transmission services.
The BCI is now seeking confirmation from One Vision; the second placed applicant in the DTT licensing competition; that it is interested in pursuing contract negotiations with the BCI and is in a position to do so, in the event that the BCI were to award, in principle, the contracts to One Vision.
Source: BCI website
Item added: 27th April 2009
ComReg consults on Digital Dividend
The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has published a
consultation document on Ireland’s digital dividend.
The dividend will become available when the switchover from analogue to digital terrestrial television technology takes place before 2012.
The consultation focuses on a number of key issues which include the following;
•The option of clearing the 800 MHz sub-band to accommodate uses other than broadcasting and providing access to it in a timely manner.
•Exploring opportunities for sub-bands other than the 800 MHz sub-band as part of Ireland’s digital dividend
•Considering whether some of the digital dividend could be set aside as an innovation reserve.
Responses must be received by the 7th May.
The full consultation document on the digital dividend, ComReg 09/15 is available in the publications section of the ComReg website www.comreg.ie
Item added: 16th March 2009
Commercial DTT transition hit by economic downturn
Despite the Competition Authority rubber-stamping plans for a €165m investment in Irelands commercial DTT market, an article on 'independent.ie' reports that the start of services might be further away then they seem.
It quotes “sources close the national broadcaster” as saying that despite Boxer winning the contract in September, to launch programmes on the service planned to start last month, they have yet to return the contract.
RTE have already spent €40 million on equipment for the network and are now reluctant to spend more until the contract has been returned.
See full article at: independent.ie
Item added: 2nd March 2009
New Regulator
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland will take over regulatory responsibility from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland on March 31 2009.
The new regulator will replace the RTÉ Authority, and the governing body of TG4, as well as the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC).
The new regulator will have the power to curb ownership where a purchaser might end up with more than 25% of licences. Unlike its predecessor the power will be extended to a regional level, taking into account the local advertising market, and setting its own rules for the number of licences that can be held in a particular region.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 3rd November 2008
Rohde and Schwarz wins DTT contract
German transmitter manufacturer Rohde and Schwarz has won the contract to provide the transmission equipment for Irelands DTT roll-out.
The contract is for 12 sites throughout Ireland and each site will be fitted with a 4 operational +1 reserve transmitter system. (4+1). The entire deployment is expected to be completed by January 2009 as part of RTÉNL's goal to provide DTT signals to 90% of the Irish population by the end of 2010.
Source: the future.tv
Item added: 27th October 2008
Irelands switchover must be promoted
Boxer DTT, winners of the contract to provide DTT in Ireland, are reported to have told the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland that a ‘digital champion’ is needed if the switch from analogue to digital television is to go smoothly. Boxer DTT chairwoman Lucy Gaffney said there was still a lack of public awareness of the changeover and that the government should appoint an independent body to oversee the change in a similar manner to Digital UK.
Source: Advanced Television.com
Item added: 23rd September 2008
Irelands official DTT trial ends
Eamon Ryan, the Communications Minister for Ireland, has formally announced the end of Irelands official DTT trial.
” We have reached the end of the beginning of the digital terrestrial television process. Now we move to national rollout,” said Ryan.
The trial officially ended on August 1st but from August 4th transmission provider RTE Network limited will provide a new DTT network to test and develop services.
The trial in Dublin and County Louth has been in operation since August 2006 and involved 1000 homes. The results of the trial show that 82% of those involved would recommend DTT to a friend and 84% were satisfied with the overall service.
As reported previously MPEG-4, H.264 Audio Visual Coding is to be used for the new service.
Recent press reports have suggested that the launch of the new service from the Pay-TV licence winner Boxer is expected to be delayed until September 2009 so that the free-to-air multiplex from public service broadcaster RTE can be launched at the same time.
Main source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 4th August 2008
Boxer DTT Ltd. awarded DTT multiplex contracts
The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland today (Monday, July 21st) announced its decision with regard to the award of the three national Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) multiplex contracts. The contracts were advertised by the Commission on the 7th of March.
The Commission considered the applications received from three consortia and has awarded the contracts in principle to Boxer DTT Limited.
The award of the contracts is subject to clarifications and the successful outcome of contract negotiations, which will take place in the coming months.
Source: BCI Press release
Item added: 21st July 2008
Consumers warned that TV’s are not Digital Ready
The recent trials of DTT services in Ireland are thought to be confusing buyers into purchasing equipment unsuitable to receive official DTT services. The current trials are taking place using the MPEG-2 digital compression standard used in the United Kingdom and not the newer MPEG-4, H.264 standard that is to be used in Ireland. Consumers that have already purchased “Digital Ready” equipments to view the trial services will have a shock on the 31st July when their pictures go blank as the trial also switches to MPEG-4.
Broadcast enthusiast Brian Greene made the situation clear when he said that “it’s important that organisations ranging from the Department of Communication, Energy and natural Resources to BCI, RTE and various consumer bodies should be warning customers not to buy products in the mistaken belief they are optimised for DTT just because they say “Digital Ready””.
”The state should warn retailers not to sell pig in a poke TV sets. If the set is not going to be Digital Ready (MPEG-4) then stickers should be removed and shoppers should be warned that UK digital sets will not work here,” Greene warned.
Source: SiliconRepublic
Item added: 15th July 2008
ComReg consults on Spectrum for Mobile TV
The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) announced a public consultation on the award of UHF spectrum on the 18th June, initially for the five urban areas of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
The spectrum could be of interest not only to the broadcasting sector, for the provision of a multi-city Mobile TV service, but also to the wider communications sector as it could facilitate other mobile multimedia applications. ComReg will also consider any suggestions for other possible uses of the spectrum from licensees.
The consultation focuses on two possible award options and relevant licence conditions which, in the case of a Mobile TV service, include the following: A licence duration of 10 years, wholesale service obligations aimed at ensuring access to the content on fair, transparent and nondiscriminatory basis for other operators; A requirement that the Mobile TV service is available to end-users in each of the five urban areas within 24 months; Annual licence fees of €340,000 indexed to the Consumer Price Index.
Licence conditions applicable to other services include the following: A licence duration of 10 years, a spectrum mask based on an 8MHz bandwidth under which the service must technically operate; Annual licence fees of €650,000 indexed to the Consumer Price Index.
The consultation is open until 5pm on the 30th July.
Source: Comreg
Item added: 26th June 2008
New Broadcasting Bill approved
A new Broadcasting Bill has recently been approved by Government and has now been passed on to the Parliament for final approval.
The Bill represents a consolidation of almost 50 years of Irish broadcasting legislation and seeks to deal with virtually all aspects of that regulation and the provision of broadcasting in Ireland. The new Bill repeals key Acts that date from 1960.
More comprehensive information on the new Bill can be found by clicking on the following source link.
Source: Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Item modified: 27th May 2008
BCI announces bidders
Three consortiums bid to operate Ireland's three available multiplexes and each has bid for all three.
The consortiums are Boxer DTT Ltd., Easy TV and One Vision.
Boxer DTT Ltd. includes the Irish, Communicorp and Sweden’s DTT operator Boxer as backers whilst, Easy TV has RTE and UPC’s parent company Liberty Global backing the bid.
One Vision the remaining bidder includes Eircom, TV3, Setanta and Arqiva in the consortium. The DTT licensing procedure is expected to be completed by July, with services launching a few months after.
Source: Independent.ie
Item added: 6th May 2008
Partnership bids for Irish DTT
A single consortium is to bid for all three Irish commercial DTT multiplexes.
The partnership consists of Eircom, broadcaster TV3 and Setanta Sports who have all decided to go for a joint bid rather than bidding individually for the three available multiplexes.
The fourth multiplex has been reserved for public broadcaster RTE.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 8th April 2008
RTE plans to invest €120 million in new digital network roll-out
RTE plans to invest €120 million in a new transmission network, which will pave the way for the switch to digital television according to an article in the Sunday Business Post. The article goes on to say that RTE's transmission subsidiary, RTENL, has put a cost of €95 million on the first phase of the rollout of digital terrestrial television (DTT) which will bring the new system to 90 per cent of the population.
RTE will have one multiplex and commercial operators will have three.
RTENL expects that more than 75 per cent of the population will have digital television by the second quarter of 2009, increasing to 90 per cent by 2010.
Communications minister Eamon Ryan said: ''The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) will shortly be commencing its process to issue commercial DTT contracts in 2008, and it is expected that the commercial sector will work, together with RTE and the BCI, to develop an attractive range of DTT services well ahead of 2012."
A new website has been launched to give more information on the DTT transition and it can be accessed by clicking on the following link digitaltelevision.ie
Source: Sunday Business Post
Item added: 4th March 2008
BCI issues Multiplex Licensing Policy
The Broadcast Commission of Ireland BCI, has published a policy document entitled “BCI DTT Multiplex Licensing Policy 2008” following the allocation of three DTT multiplex licences to it by ComReg.
The document details BCI policy in relation to the future licensing of DTT Multiplexes A, B and C to commercial operators.
The pdf document can be downloaded by clicking on the following link.
BCI DTT Multiplex Policy 2008
Item added: 26th February 2008
Source: Seo Catháin
DTT licence conditions published by ComReg
ComReg the Irish Commission for Communications regulation has issued a framework document for DTT services in Ireland.
DTT multiplex licences will run for 12 years and be subject to a fixed licence fee.
The first multiplex licence has been issued to RTE, the public service broadcaster and the Broadcasting commission of Ireland BCI.
Either MPEG-2 or MPEG-4, H.264 AVC can be used for compression and DVB-SSU can be used for over-the-air software updates.
ComReg is expected to open a consultation on mobile television licence conditions in the first half of 2008.
Source: ComReg website
Item added: 14th November 2007
DTT plans in the Irish Republic
The DTT process in Ireland was initially regulated by the 2001 Broadcasting Act.
In 2007 this Act was amended to allow multiple operators instead of the previously restrictive single multiplex operator limitation.
Now it is expected that there will eventually be six DTT multiplexes in operation in the Irish republic. ComReg will issue two licences to RTE and four to the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) for tender to commercial operators.
At present the available spectrum is limited and ComReg are only expected to issue one national multiplex to RTE and three multiplexes to the BCI until after analogue switch off, when the remaining multiplexes will be released.
The BCI is currently finalising its DTT policy and it is expected that the tenders for DTT licences will be issued in June 2008.
Technical trials have been taking place in Ireland since 2006 and it is expected that the soft launch of a more public service will take place in Q3/Q4 2008 with a hard launch in 2009.
Analogue switch off is planned to take place once the DTT coverage exceeds that of the existing analogue service, which is put at 98%.
Thanks to Seo Catháin, Dublin Institute of Technology for the updated.
Item added: 23rd October 2007 (corrected 28th January 2008)
Useful link: http://www.digitaltv.gov.ie
(information on this link has been removed or re-allocated)
ComReg open DTT Licensing Consultation
On the 31st August, the Commission for Communications Regulation, Comreg, issued a consultation on digital Terrestrial Licensing.
The comprehensive document lists DTT transmission in VHF and UHF bands using both 7MHZ and 8MHz channels with both 16QAM and 64QAM modulations. HD parameters are defined as being 1080*1920.
The main purpose of the document is to consult on the proposed licence conditions for the DTT multiplex licences to be issued to Radio Telifis Eireann (RTE) and the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI), by Com Reg.
ComReg is seeking comments on the duration of the DTT licence, annual licence fee, rollout obligations, sanctions for non-compliance, provision of information and technical conditions.
The consultation lasts until 12th October 2007 and ComReg plans to publish final conclusions in November.
Source: ComReg website
Item added: 3rd September 2007
DTT trial adds Setanta channel
Setanta Ireland and Setanta Golf have been added to the digital terrestrial television pilot currently underway in Ireland, bringing the number of DTT TV channels available to 29.
Tony Killeen the communications minister said that although the EU had requested that Member states complete the transition from analogue to digital TV broadcasting by 2012 he expected the development of digital TV in Ireland to take place much quicker.
"I expect the development of a national public service and commercial deployment of digital terrestrial TV services in mid 2008, to ensure that Ireland doesn’t get left behind in the coming broadcasting revolution" he said, according to a report on Broadband TV News.
The trial, which is taking place in the Dublin area, started in August 2006 and is planned to run until August 2008.
Currently the channel breakdown is one in HD, 12 in SD and 12 radio channels.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 14th August 2007
HD trial begins at the GAA Football final
The first terrestrial HD broadcast in Ireland took place recently as part of the ongoing DTT pilot.
Communications minister Eamon Ryan launched the HDTV broadcast which took place at the Leinster GAA Football final at Croke Park on Sunday July 15th.
The trial was organised by RTÉ, TV3 and TG4, CEDA (the Electrical Distributors Association) and BT. Starting on July 16 the pilot channel will begin broadcasting a showreel of HD content produced by Irish broadcasters.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 16th July 2007
Arqiva and O2 launch a DVB-H trial in the Dublin area
Network operator Arqiva together with the mobile telecom operator O2 have launched the first DVB-H commercial trial in Ireland.
The trial services are available to 350 users in the Dublin area and were also demonstrated at the recent DVB World conference in early March.
Users equipped with Nokia N92 receivers will be able to access 13 television programme services including RTE1, RTE2, TV3, TG4, Sky News, Sky Sports News, Sky Sports 1, Setanta Sports Ireland, Discovery, Cartoon Network, Sky Travel, Interactive Music, Interactive Games. In addition, viewer interaction will be possible with some services.
The trial will last until 31 August 2007.
Original source: O2 press release
Item added: 13th March 2007
HD to be available on the Irish DTT platform
According to Ertweekly the final Irish DTT platform will provide HDTV as well as SDTV programmes. A two-year DTT trial was launched in August 2006 and next month will be extended to a 1000 home trial across the east coast of Ireland from Dublin to Dundalk.
The article went on to say that although MPEG-2 coding is currently under test on the platform MPEG-4 AVC will be used during later phases of the trial and this would also be used to facilitate HD services.
Source: ERT Weekly
Item added: 13th February 2007
Commercial DVB-H trial to begin January 2007
O2 and Arqiva recently announced the first trial of broadcast mobile TV in Ireland. DVB-H pilot transmissions will start in December with a full 8-month trial beginning in January 2007. Four hundred O2 Ireland customers in the greater Dublin area are expected to take part using Nokia N92 mobile phones. Part of the trial will investigate interactive services to be linked with some music video and video games channels. Other material to be broadcast includes the main Irish TV channels.
A full report on the outputs of the trials will be presented to the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and ComReg in 2007.
Ireland is now pushing ahead with digital TV and a two-year pilot is set to start this autumn and according to siliconrepublic.com, Ireland already has 700,000 households subscribing to digital satellite and cable/MMDS services from Sky (427,000) and UPC Ireland (formerly NTL and Chorus, with over 260,000).
Sources: Arqiva and silicon republic
Item added: 24th October 2006
DVB-H on one-year trial
3G mobile operator 3 has been awarded a license by Com Reg to trial broadcast TV services to mobile handsets.
The license takes effect immediately and will run for one year. The trial comes after 3’s subsidiary in Italy launched a DVB-H service called WalkTV earlier this year.
Ireland has a relatively high take-up of digital TV with 42% of all houses using DTV services.
Source: Business Plus Online
Item added: 26th September 2006
Nine applicants for Multiplex Programme Content Manager
The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) and the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural resources announced that they had received 9 applications for Multiplex Programme Content Manager (MPCM) by the 10th August.
The MPCM will be responsible for managing the content on its DTT Multiplex and at least three Multiplexes will be available for the trial.
The applicants were, BT Communications Ireland, Channel 6 Television, Chellomedia Services, Communicorp Group, Magnet Networks, RTÉ & Eircom, Sky Ireland, TVONE Broadband Media and USP Ireland.
A working group involving representatives of the department of communications, Marine and Natural Resources and the BCI will now process all the applications received. It is expected that a decision on the outcome of this process will be announced in October.
Source: BCI website
Item added: 15th August 2006
Magnet Networks apply to operate Irish Digital Terrestrial Television service
Magnet Networks has submitted an application to the Broadcasting Commision of Ireland (BCI) to operate the state's digital terrestrial television service.
Magnet Networks is submitting the application to operate as Multiplex Programme Content Manager during the trial of the Digital Terrestrial Television and it intention is to become a commercial operator of a national system.
The trial envisaged by Magnet would incorporate next generation TV services such as Video on Demand (VoD), Personal Video Recorder (PVR) technology and other broadband enabled added value applications for the consumer.
Magnet is in the middle of a €65 million deployment of a national IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) network.
Ireland’s Digital Terrestrial Television trial, which will run for two years, is due to begin on Friday 11th August and 1,000 participants will take part. It marks a key milestone in meeting the European Commission’s target analogue switch-off date of 2012.
Source: Finfact
Item added: 13th August 2006
Process Inviting Content Providers for DTT Trial begins
Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey T.D., announced on the 29th June that the process of seeking applications from persons interested in participating in the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Pilot in Ireland had begun.
Submissions are sought from interested parties who may wish to become Multiplex Programme Content Managers and to supply programme content to the DTT trial.
Produces of such content as television and radio services as well as data applications and new technologies are encouraged to submit applications.
“This latest step in the implementation of the pilot provides an opportunity to potential content providers to take part in Ireland's first DTT trial," said Minister Dempsey. "The trial can highlight the issues involved in providing a DTT service with quality channels and new, innovative content, to Irish viewers.”
"This process provides an opportunity for interested parties to explore the possibilities around the market case for a full roll-out. The Department is open to suggestions from content providers on the types of broadcasting services which can be tested and trialled," concluded Minister Dempsey.
The DTT pilot is currently in the build phase and is expected to be operational by mid-August 2006. It is planned to continue the pilot over a two-year period, during which time broadcasts will transmit from the Three Rock site in Dublin and the Clermont Carn site in County Louth.
The Pilot can be seen as a precursor to a national rollout of DTT services.
Source: Irish Ministry press release
Item added: 11th July 2006
Ireland aims to meet EU 2012 Switchover deadline
Announcing details of the infrastructure for the pilot testing of DTV in Ireland, Noel Dempsey, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, said that Ireland should aim for the EU deadline of 2012 for a complete switchover to digital TV.
The trial is now planned to start in August and BT Communications (Ireland) will provide a multiplexing and distribution service, with NEC (UK) supplying and installing the transmission and combining system.
The test infrastructure will provide the framework for technical testing and spectrum planning, as well as holding demos of broadcast channels and services and is intended as the precursor to a national rollout of DTT. The testing period is due to last for two years and broadcasts will transmit from Three Rock in Dublin as well as a site at Clermont Carn in Co Louth. More details of the pilot can be found on the website http://www.dcmnr.gov.ie/Broadcasting/Digital+Television/Digital+Television.htm
Source: Siliconrepublic.com
Item added: 16th May 2006
Previous
Shortlist for DTT launch
Six applicants have now been short listed for the launch of Ireland's 24 month DTT pilot. The short listed companies are Arqiva, BT, Chorus, National Grid Wireless (previously Crown Castle), Siemens and Simac.
Transmissions from the Three Rock site in Dublin and Clermont Cam in County Louth are expected to begin mid-2006.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 29th November 2005
Telecom firms set to battle for digital contract
According to a recent article in the Irish times, a number of large telecommunications companies are vying to build new digital TV infrastructure for the Irish government in preparation for the turn off of analogue TV signals.
The Department of Communication invited expressions of interest from firms willing to build an operate systems earlier in the year but has yet to announce a shortlist of applicants.
Companies expressing interest are believed to be, National Grid Wireless and Arquiva as well as BT Ireland.
It is expected that RTE Transmission Network Limited will want to get involved in the project but the article does not say that this has happened yet.
Source: Irish Times
Item added: 9th November 2005
Government sets out digital plan
The Government has confirmed that it is planning to develop a pilot programme for Digital Terrestrial Television and has invited expressions of interest for the infrastructure elements of the project.
According to the pilot plan, broadcasts will start from the Three Rock site in Dublin and the Clermont Carn site in County Louth. The aim of the project is for technical testing and the demonstration of new channels and services.
Source: RTE
Item added: 4th July 2005
Digital TV system to be tested in Dublin
The Government will unveil a pilot digital television project in Dublin next month and announce plans to switch off the existing RTÉ analogue television service according to the Irish Times 28/03/2005.
The test service is now expected to begin broadcasting in Dublin later this year. It will enable consumers with a digital television to receive up to 12 television and radio channels for free without having to pay a subscription fee.
Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey is quoted as saying that the service would form the first stage of a nationwide roll out of a digital terrestrial television service.
"We hope to have up to 12 channels available on the system, all the national channels and an additional six or seven channels for TV, video or radio services."
Mr Dempsey is also quoted as saying that the Government would switch off RTÉ's existing analogue free-to-air television service sometime between 2010-2015. The final date chosen for switch-off would probably be closer to 2010 than 2015.
According to the article 38 per cent of households in the Republic still depend on analogue terrestrial broadcasting, and as many as 90 per cent of homes use a normal aerial for extra TV sets.
The Government and RTÉ first began preparing a strategy to introduce digital television in the Republic in 1997. But the first attempt to hold a competition to entice a private operator to set up and run a system ended in failure in 2002.
Source: Jamie Smyth Technology Reporter, Irish Times 28th March 2005.
Ireland plans free DTT
Ireland's DTT service is to be free-to-air. The decision was revealed in a wide-ranging consultation from communications watchdog, Comreg, on the use of spectrum in the digital age.
Source: Cable & Satellite, Europe. January February 2005
