ROMA – The government changes the dates of the television switch off, which should have taken shape on September 1, 2021 (with the introduction of a new broadcast standard for television channels, the MPEG-4) and on June 30, 2022 (with the start of broadcasting in DVB-T2, the second generation digital terrestrial).
This means that families will have more time to organize and change TV sets if outdated.
National televisions will leave the current standard (MPEG-2) to adopt the new one (MPEG-4) – starting October 15, 2021 – but on a substantially voluntary basis. The TVs themselves will choose which of their channels to radiate in Mpeg-4 (the new standard).
The meeting at the Mise
During today’s meeting at the Ministry of Development – confirm sources in Viale Mazzini – Rai announced that it will broadcast its specialized channels (such as Rai Storia and Rai Sport) in MPEG-4, while it will wait for the main ones. The main channels (such as Rai 1, Rai 2 and Rai 3) would be broadcast in simulcast, both in Mpeg-2 (old standard) and in the new standard (Mpeg-4).
Families, therefore, will need a television capable of receiving MPEG-4 to watch Rai’s specialist channels, while the main ones – the flagship networks – will remain visible to everyone (even those with an old device). Mediaset and la7 have not clarified their strategy, which will certainly be similar especially for the Biscione: some networks in Mpeg-4; the main ones still in Mpeg-2.
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The government does not impose obligations, therefore. It only asks that a number of “representative” programs move to the new standard, MPEG-4, from October 15, 2021. This first step in October 2021 will be accompanied by a robust advertising campaign that will push families to switch TV sets, thanks even the € 100 discount bonus available to everyone, regardless of income.
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Within the year, in one of its measures, the government will determine when and how the switch to MPEG-4 will become mandatory. The original deadline of September 1, 2021, therefore, has fallen.
And the second deadline is also postponed, that of June 2022 which should have marked the transition to DVB-T2 (second generation digital terrestrial). The transition will take place “starting from January 1, 2023”, in a manner that the government will always decide with its own provision.
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The deadline of September 1, 2021 also falls under another profile. From that date, the broadcasters should have released part of their frequencies in the 700 band. This liberation process is reshaped and postponed.
Regions and frequencies
Sardinia will lead the way: in that region all broadcasters will have to free up frequencies between November and December 2021, also to block interference (on the 700 band) with neighboring nations such as France. It’s still:
– gives January 2022, it will be the turn of Valle d’Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy except the province of Mantua, the province of Piacenza, the province of Trento, the province of Bolzano;
– always from January 2022, of Veneto, province of Mantua, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Emilia Romagna (except the province of Piacenza);
– gives March 2022, here is Sicily, Calabria, Puglia, Basilicata; Abruzzo, Molise, Marche;
– within June 2022, will close the process of abandoning the frequencies Liguria, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Campania.
The 5G
The remodeling must not damage the telecommunications companies, which retain the right to take over the 700 frequency band (which they paid dearly, also and above all to convey 5G technology services). The date of 1 July 2022 is therefore confirmed: that day the frequencies in the 700 band will certainly pass into the availability of the telecommunications companies.
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