Italy holding back HD TV in Malta

High-definition (HD) TV will soon become a reality in Malta, however there are some technical problems that have to be sorted out for HD TV to be available on the Maltese digital terrestrial platform, i-Tech can reveal.

HD TV over digital terrestrial (DTTV) requires clean frequencies that are not at Malta's disposal at the moment since they are still being used in Italy. Once Italy goes through its digital switchover, enough frequencies will be made available to allow Go to offer HD channels in Malta.

"From a technological perspective we are gearing up for HD. Our head-end equipment is ready to handle HD transmissions and we did some testing," according to Joe Bugeja, chief technology officer at Go. "The real problem lies in the spectrum. We hope that the digital switchover in Italy will free some of the frequencies available for Malta so that Go is in a position to launch HD channels. We are discussing this issue with the Malta Communications Authority on a regular basis."

The incumbent in fixed-line telephony has transformed itself into a quad player in recent years, adding DTTV to its offering. Just before Christmas Go announced it has won the rights to broadcast live matches of the two most popular foreign football leagues among the Maltese as from the next season. Last week the company announced its new sports package, under the Go Sports brand, that reflects the new football content. The offer is for six channels of Go Sports at €17.99 monthly payable as from July 1, 2010, and Go Sports free until then.

Over the years Maltese viewers who follow foreign football found themselves having to switch providers with different technologies to continue to enjoy their sport. Melita today holds the rights to the English Premier League, Italian Serie A and the Champions' League. As from the next football season Go will broadcast exclusively the top English and Italian leagues.

Several viewers have vented their frustration at the need to switch provider through letters to the editor and on timesofmalta.com.

"This is the way it works in all the markets, the way rights are sold," insists Norbert Prihoda, chief operations officer at Go. "In the case of local customers there is no real hassle to switch to Go's digital TV service.

"Indeed there is no installation fee, no activation fee, and the set-top box is also free. Therefore Go customers do not have to invest money to switch to digital terrestrial TV service.

"Furthermore, the technology allows you to move the service around, for example to your summer house. This is a big advantage when you consider that the English Premier League and the Italian Serie A start in August."

Go's investment into its DTTV platform included the launch, just before Christmas, of Go Box+, the first TV recording set-top box from a provider in Malta. It allows viewers to pause, rewind and record live TV transmissions. It is HD ready, compatible with any TV set, and supports subtitles and teletext. A hard disk inside can host up to 100 hours of recordings. Viewers can get this new box or exchange their old one with the Go Box+. No technical changes to the DTTV installation are needed.

The number of subscribers on Go's DTTV platform increased steadily over recent years, supporting the drive to switch subscribers to digital TV. The last few thousand viewers watching analogue TV should be encouraged to switch over by December 31 when Malta officially switches off all analogue TV signals.

PBS is entrusted with implementing a network to support six local general interest TV channels transmitting free-to-air over DTTV. i-Tech is informed that PBS has turned to Go for technical support to rollout this network.

"The technology is similar to ours. We are still discussing with PBS," Mr Prihoda said.