JOURNAL OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS, VOLUME 15, ISSUE 2, AUGUST 2012 31

Digital terrestrial television: a golden or a missing opportunity?

A reflection on the introduction of DTT in Portugal
Raquel Castro Madureira, A. Manuel de Oliveira Duarte and Raquel Matias-Fonseca
Abstract A few months after the introduction of the digital television in Portugal, this paper intends to do a reflection on the impact of the digital terrestrial television (DTT) in the Portuguese society. Comparing in terms of broadcast TV services it analyzes the state of the country in the time immediately before and after the transition to DTT. The analysis covers such aspects as the profile of the free TV audience, the legislation associated with the implementation of DTT and the impact of that process in Portuguese society. This analysis is then contrasted with the potential alternative technological solutions that current DTT standards accommodate but that political and regulatory authorities in Portugal decided not to consider.

Index Terms Digital TV, DVB-T; DVB-S, Techno-economics; cost benefits;

u different telecommunications services, such as: fixed telephone, mobile communications, internet and fixed and 1 INTRODUCTION mobile television subscription (cable, satellite or fiber) [2, 3]. In most parts of the world, the communications sector evolved from an initial state of technological curiosity by the end of the century XIX to one of the most dynamic sectors in these first years of the XXI century, as illustrated by the volumes of investment shown in Fig. 1, [1].

Fig. 1 Investments in telecommunications by region, from 1988 to

2009. Source: OCDE.

Fig. 2 Rate penetration for several communication services (left axis) versus the Portuguese GDP (right axis) from 1930 to 2010. Source: ANACOM, INE e World Bank

The Portuguese public investment in the Telecommunications, mainly supporting the construction of new infrastructures, has been relevant for the growth of the global services penetration [1] as shown in Fig. 3. Two points in time, stands out: around 1995 and around 2008/09. The first one is mostly related with the last phase of digitization of telephone network exchanges and launching of mobile communications. The second one is Raquel Castro.Madureira is with Instituto de Telecomunicaes, Departa- related to investments in fiber optics in access networks, mento de Electrnica, Telecomunicaes e Informtica, Universidade de [4] mostly in rural areas. This revolution also took place in Portugal, with evidence of benefit and prosperity for the everyday of the people and businesses, as can be seen in Fig. 2, which compares the evolution of Growth Domestic Product (GDP) with the evolution of the number of subscribers for
Aveiro, Campus Santiago, 3810 Aveiro, Portugal. A. Manuel Oliveira Duarte is with Instituto de Telecomunicaes, Departamento de Electrnica, Telecomunicaes e Informtica, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Santiago, 3810 Aveiro, Portugal. Raquel Matia-Fonseca is with, Departamento de Economia, Gesto e Engenharia Industrial, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Santiago, Aveiro, Portugal.

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tions on the level of technical complexity completely transparent to the receiver consumer only reflected in image quality and aesthetic dimension. The following sections aim to characterize the state of the Portuguese nation in the time immediately before and after the transition moment. Analyzing not only the profile of the nation as a spectator of free TV (unpaid), as well as the legislation associated with the implementation of the digital TV and the cost benefits to the society from that process.

2 THE TELEVISION SECTOR IN PORTUGAL

2.1 Brief history of the television in Portugal By 1875 Professor Adriano de Paiva from Oporto made the firsts experiments with the transmission of images in the so-called electric telescope. Many experimentalists tried out this new medium but only in 1927 the Bell Company, New York, held a televised broadcast between two points, situated 45 kilometers from each other, making the first public use of the successful iconoscope, leaving behind the constraints of predecessor and inventions opening new paths. By the late 20s in the XX century, there were already 20 Broadcast stations licensed to establish visual transmition, mainly faces and silhouettes. This invention, of doubtful usefulness in its origin, entered the daily life of people marking a new way of life and profoundly changing habits and customs. The introduction of the national television in Portugal dates from 1957 with the first television channel, Radio Televiso Portuguesa, RTP1. They were later released three more channels: RTP 2, 1968, RTP Madeira, RTP Azores in 1972 and in 1975. With the resolutions of the Council of Ministers n183/79, it was authorized the introduction of color television in Portugal, and with the n 245/79 of July 25 was adopted PAL (Phase Alternation Line) taking into account the compatibility with systems in potential export countries (except France who opted for SECAM). The PAL system normalizes the line number on the screen 625 scanning lines of 25 images / frames per second being each constituted by two fields (50 Hz). The first color broadcasts began on an experimental basis in 1979, however only in 1980 that began the regular broadcasts in color, and the RTP European Song Festival 1980 was the first color broadcast program in Portugal. In 1990 with the advent of liberalization of telecommunications and the development of a European common market, it began to emerge the competition in the markets for telecommunications services, making way for new private channels, is formalizing the appearance of SIC and TVI in 1993 and 1992. The market for analogue terrestrial television began to be deeply affected by the introduction of pay TV services, mainly due to the cable TV after 2000 [2],

Fig. 3 Portuguese public investment (left axis) versus Portugal GDP (right axis) from 1965 to 2010. Source: OCDE.

Along with the technological development the subscribers behavior exhibited an increase demand for data services and broadband Internet access. To keep with the behavioral changes the Portuguese Essential Services Act 1996 [2] was revised and updated in 2004 [3] introducing the terms electronic communications rather than fixed voice telephone service. In 2008 the law was again reviewed adding additional services, and nowadays the Essential Services are 7: water supply; power supply; gas; electronic communications services; postal services; service to collect and treat wastewater and management of municipal solid waste, [4]. These services are considered essential and thereafter subject to laws that may declare them as Universal Service (U.S.). As general definition of US is the right of any citizen anywhere in the country to be able to order that service with the guarantee of affordable prices and tariffs. It is relevant to highlight the fact that the broadcast television service is not under the Essential Service list neither under the Universal Service scope. Thus the deployment plans and design targets for this type of service (both analog and digital) will be obligatorily dependent under the permit license granted to the contractor. Ever since its birth, the television broadcasting service has its own development path aside from the rest of the communication systems, with separate frequencies and infra-structures mainly due to its unidirectional characteristic and join it with the classic AM|FM radio service. From a more recent past it appears that different types of services will be in a clear convergence of platforms and technologies. We understand intuitively that the mentioned convergence can also make adjustments and optimizations for the networks or receivers, in particular in technologies supporting different services and sharing the rare radio-electric spectrum as means of propagation. Anticipating this trend already in 2005 the European Parliament issued a resolution on the theme "Accelerating the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting", which would lead to the theme called Digital Dividend and the need for the conversion of analogue terrestrial television systems to digital to reduce the channel bandwidth and freed the remain spectrum [5]. This abrupt transition called "Analog Blackout," which was realized in early 2012 in Portugal, appears in a context where the user-television relationship was virtually unchanged for decades, punctuated by only a few varia-

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Accommodations Buildings Floors per building Dwellings per floor Total inhabitants Total dwellings Total vacant dwellings Total inhabitant dwellings % homes with at least 1 TV set % homes with more than 1Tv set (2,5) Estimation TV universe %Dwellings with pay TV Potential dwelling for free signal Estimation of TV receivers for open signal

5.877.991 3.543.595 2,2 0,8 10.561.614 12.114.719 1.574.913 10.593.806 99,5% 74,1% 30.012.096 2.634.951 7.904.854 26.993.638

tion becomes a central theme in the European Union in the late 90s and in 1998, it is launched by the regulator in Portugal, ANACOM the first public consultation on the transition of the TV broadcast from analog to digital in order to sound out the market and outline the changes to be made as spectrum management, licensing, new licenses, technology and standards to be adopted. TABLE 1 Characterization of PORTUGAL 2011

2.2 THE PORTUGUESE TV MARKET Portugal is a European Community country in southwestern Europe. In addition to its continental territory (892.000 km2), the country also includes two archipelagos in the North Atlantic: Madeira and Aores [3]. Its current population is around 11 million citizens who are mostly concentrated near the coast, especially in the two major cities: Lisbon in the center and Porto in the north. Along the coast, the population density is relatively balanced but in the interior of the country, the population is sparse and concentrated in smaller villages. Portugal can be geographically divided according to Eurostat rules in NUTS regions, Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics, I, II or III. In this article the nomenclature NUTS II was chosen, that mean the country is divided in basic regions for the application of regional policies in a total of 7 regions: Norte/North; Centro/Center; Lisboa/Lisbon; Alentejo and Algarve in the continental platform and the archipelagos Madeira and Aores, Fig. 5.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 Portugal by NUTS II.Source: Eurostat1. According to data available from the Centre for Communications, OberCom [6], in 2008, 99.5% of the Portuguese population had at least one TV set and 74.1% had even more than one, [6]. (It was established by the author that more than 1 will be assumed as 2,5 TV sets per home). Applying this statistic to the values from the CENSUS 2011 [7] on the number of households inhabited,
1

Fig. 4- Number of pay TV subscribers (cable, fiber, IPTV, satellite - DTH). Source: ANACOM. With the parallel market growth of the mobile voice and data communications, the radio spectrum becomes increasingly scarce demanding reorganization. Optimiza-

Eurostat, on line:epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu

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minus the uninhabited buildings it gives a minor estimation of about 34.5 million televisions sets in Portugal mainland and islands As a significant proportion of households have already adopted the cable television, around 25% [8], the number of potential TVs to received open signal TV are around 26 million, corresponding to about 8 million dwellings units (DU) or commercial establishments with TV, TABLE 1. We emphasize the high penetration of cable television in regions NUTS II as Lisbon with 45% of existing homes Accommodations Buildings Floors per building Dwellings per floor Total inhabitants Total dwellings Total vacant dwellings Total inhabitant dwellings % homes with at least 1 TV set % homes with more than 1Tv set (2,5) Estimation TV universe %Dwellings with pay TV Potential dwelling for free signal 5.877.991 3.543.595 2,2 0,8 10.561.614 12.114.719 1.574.913 10.593.806 99,5% 74,1% 30.012.096 2.634.951 7.904.854

LEGAL TV FRAMEWORK IN PORTUGAL

This section presents a list of laws, decree-laws and resolutions related to the legislation concerning the Portuguese television, the transition to digital and the regulator licenses obligations, ANACOM [10]. The TV law in force is Law no. 8/2011 of April 11 [11], which restructures the provision of the public radio and television, transposing the European Directive 2007/65/EC, outlining the principles of public service in Chapter V, Article 50, which focus mainly on content access and dissemination of information.

3.1

Brief summary on the legal framework for the analog TV switch off
Specifications Target pop. 8951462 (coastal mainland) 10215600 10 530 610 % Population 84%

1st phase (until 18 months from start) 2nd phase (until 30 months from start) 3rd phase (until 36 months from start)

96% 99%

Estimation of TV receivers for open signal 26.993.638 and both autonomous regions the islands of Madeira and Azores with 36% and 37% of existing homes, respectively, Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 Population distribution by NUTS II comparison with %pay TV homes and non-pay TV homes. Analyzing the data provided by the OberCom, one can understand the profile of television viewer by region, gender and age, in Portugal Continental from 2004 to 2010, [9], it appears that there were no major changes in the profile of the viewer during this period and it can be seen that the profile that stands out the most is, [9]: 1) Female (56,3%), 2) More than 64 years old (25,3%), 3) Region countryside North+Center+Alentejo (23,2%).

In late 2007 there were the first public consultations by ANACOM that were already part of the process of introduction of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) in Portugal. The plan for the analog TV switch-off associated with the introduction of DTT in Portugal began officially in January 2008 by the Council of Ministers resolution 12/2008, where it is stated that the introduction of digital terrestrial television (DTT) in Portugal constitutes one of the objectives set out in the government program, [13]. Right after, in October 2008, the regulator ANACOM has approved the proposals of the review committee of tenders DTT, which attach to the PT Comunicaes the frequency usage rights associated with Multiplexers (MUX) A and B to F. The MUX A was reserved for free signal emissions and the others to TV pay channels, [14]. The licenses were granted by public contest to PT Comunicaes in [15] and [16] and the Council of Ministers Resolution n 26/2009 [17], dated the final decision on the detailed plan for the cessation of analogue terrestrial emissions for 2012. By determination of 12 July 2010, ANACOM decided to withdraw its allocation of frequency usage rights associated with Multiplexers B to F [18]. In December 2010, ANACOM approved in accordance with the provisions of the plan for the switch-off, the final decision on the cessation of analogue terrestrial television in the pilot phase. In April 2011 ANACOM approved the final decision on changing the operation of the channel Multiplexer (Mux A) on Portugal Mainland (substitution of channel 67 for channel 56), [19]. In parallel it was approved a decision on the definition of the procedure for reimbursement of facilities and equipment in areas covered by means of topping up with satellite (DVB-S), to be promoted by PT Comunicaes (PTC). In May 2011 the 3 first pilot areas were switch off with success. One year later and according to the plan, all the three switch-off phases were completed and the analog TV was definitely off.

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3.2 DTT provider obligations The DTT provider Portugal Telecom Comunicaes (PTC), or more usually PT, was the winner among a group of stakeholders. In the ANACOM site can be seen in detail the specifications for DTT obligations, [15]: 1) 1st phase roll out 1: 99% of the population of the coastal area of mainland after 18 months, 2) 2nd phase roll out: 75% of the rest of the area at the end of 30 months, 3) 3rd phase roll out: 99% of the population after 3 years. Based on those obligations and analyzing the data TABLE 3 DTT BROADCASTING TECHNOLOGIES IN % OF POPULATION
Broadcast technology DVB-T DVB-S Specifications 87% 13% Population 9 188 604 1 373 010

As in other technology systems the analog TV signal has limitations that must be considered and countered with the advantages of the digital age, including: interference caused by the overhead of using the radio-electric spectrum; weak immunity to multipath propagation and weak data transmission capacity. The introduction of a digital system new business opportunities are raised as the possibility of introducing new channels and new television services such as interactive television, pay per view, or the distribution of the Internet and/or email. The expected increase capacity distribution may also lead to further production of television contents.

from the national Census in 20112, TABLE 2 presents the value of population target for DTT in each phase of implementation. TABLE 2 DTT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN TABLE 4 ANALOG TV FREQUENCY ALLOCATION Band VHF UHF Channel 2-4
5-10

I
III

Freq.(MHz) 47-68
174-216

IV
V

21-34
35-64

470-582
582-862

Fig.7 National analog broadcast network for Portugal Continental for channel RTP1 [21] As already mentioned, the use of new digital technology frees most part of the radio-electric spectrum used today, leaving free spectrum in the neighborhood of the mobile operators. The release of these frequencies by the analog television is called Digital Dividend.

Subject to the endorsement by the regulatory obligation to ensure end-users have conditions of access comparable to the areas covered by the analog system and the population covered by additional means of coverage does not exceed 14% of the national population [20]. In practice 87% of the population should be targeted to have DVB-T and the remaining 13% can have any other complementary technology that PT has chosen, in this case DVB-S, i.e. reception via satellite, TABLE 3. The medium of propagation of a broadcast system in free space is the space through the radio-electric frequency allocation for this purpose by the regulator ANACOM in Portugal. The allocation of channels assigned to the analogue TV in Portugal was divided into two bands running in the VHF band, from 30 to 300MHz (Very High Frequency) and two in the UHF band 300-3000 MHz (Ultra High Frequency) as shown schematically in the TABLE 4. By early 2012 there were 4 free analog signal TV channels (2 channels owned by the state and 2 private companies) and both radio and analog television were distributed throughout the territory as can be seen in Fig.7 and colocated that means they were transmitted from the same telecommunications towers in a total of 746 transmitters and relays between the different TV channels.
2

4 DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION, DTT IN PORTUGAL

The DTT is the name given to the digital television broadcast by terrestrial means using DVB-T, which will replace the current analogue terrestrial system. The big theme for the transition from analog to digital is undoubtedly the optimal use of radio-electric spectrum.

CENSOS 2011, on line em www.ine.pt.

4.1 DTT Frequency Allocation Like most countries in Europe, DTT emissions for nonpay TV channels in Portugal are based on the Hertzian Broadcasting Terrestrial DVB-T [22] or the Satellite DVB-S [23] both with video compression standard is MPEG-4 / H.264. The paid cable TV networks also use DVB-C [24]. The terrestrial distribution is the closest to the current situation of the analog system, because it keeps the existing receiving antennas plus a decoder for television (TVbox), which in the case of recent TV models is already integrated. The frequency planning in the analog broadcast case defined a frequency for each 8MHz TV channel. In the

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digital case one 8MHz channel contains several channels and can be broadcasted in the same frequency all around the country, SFN (Single Frequency Network) or with different frequencies concerning each region, MFN (Multi Frequency Network), after being multiplexed, Fig.8.

The frequencies used in MUX A for open signal TDT are in TABLE 5Error! Reference source not found.: Moreover, DVB-T standard provide the use of a return channel [25] [26, 27] in order to exploit the interactivity factor repeatedly mentioned in the European recommendations. Some technologies proposed for the return channel would be e.g. POTS/ADSL (cable) and GSM or WiMAX (wireless). This system feature is not yet explored in Portugal or in Europe by the television operators, not only by the lack of interactive content as the additional cost of implementation technology.

Fig.8 Frequency allocation in DTT (analog system on the left, digital SFN on the right). Initially ANACOM attributed the channels in the subband 790-862 MHz However as a result of decision 2010/267 of the European Union (EU), it was necessary to the corresponding amendment to the National Frequency Allocation Plan in order to provide the said sub-band for electronic communications services. To proceed to the commonality with other European countries, this adjustment has forced the use of frequency spectrum reserved for MUXs B to F and led to the revocation of its tender in 2010 as mentioned in the last section [18]. This sub-band [790-862 MHz] now available for other uses adjacent to the GSM system is called "Digital Dividend", Fig.9.

4.2 DTT Radio Planning Each DVB-T MUX has around 20Mbps with 8MHz bandwidth. Once there is a high capacity available in the multiplexer, the operator chose to assign each channel a value of bandwidth almost comparable to high-definition (HD high-definition) providing channels with high image quality. The DTT transmitters emit an effective radiated power (ERP) average of 1500W, and can cover areas ranging from 50 to 70Km. When in the particular circumstances of the morphology of the ground or gray areas of coverage due to trees or other buildings, gap fillers are used They are like frequency repeaters that provide additional and dedicated coverage, Fig. 10. These devices repeat the received signal and reset it once the received signal is corrupted by interference from the transmitting antenna and signals from the multi-path reflections [28].

Fig. 10 Gap filler usage example. All the DTT transmitters and Gap fillers are controlled by a GPS clock controller located at each infrastructure. The DTT network architecture is similar to any other wireless technology, which consists of the core network, transport network and access network containing further: 1) Digital Broadcasting Center (DBC), 2) Transport Network and 3) Access Network, Fig.11. The DBC aggregates all the contents delivered via fiber optic or microwave beams, from the TV operators. Here the video and audio signals are multiplexed statistically and compressed in accordance with the capacity available in the MUX. It further routes the DVB-T frames through network routers to both the centers for terrestrial and/or satellite transmitters, Fig.11. .

TABLE 5 TDT Channels SFN for Portugal Continent and Islands Portugal Continental Madeira Aores Aores Channel 56 54 48 49 Frequency [MHz] [750-758] [734-742] [686-694] [684-702]

Fig.9 Frequency Spectrum allocation in DTT band. Adapted by the author from: ANACOM (in yellow the remaining analog spectra)

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Fig.11 TDT system architecture.

4.3 Portuguese Switch-off Using this type of architecture, in Portugal the approved switch off plan for the analogue TV network had three stages geographically distributed according to Fig.12.

5 COST- BENEFITS OF THE DTT RADIO PLANNING

Costs associated with the planning of the new DTT network are dependent on several aspects, with a focus on 3 main points of view: the costs for the society (SOC) as the final client, the costs of the country (CTR) tax payments and the cost for the service provider (SP), (1). (1) In the next section these parcels will be analyzed in deTABLE 6 FORECAST COVERED POPULATION AFTER EACH DTT PHASE. Specifications 1st phase 2nd phase 3rd phase Target Population 8228563 8721942 10636979 % population 77% 82% 100%

Fig.12 Analog switch off forecast. A quick analysis and considering only the theoretically coverage it is possible to estimate the population covered in each phase, TABLE 6. The implementation plan is far more ambitious than required in the specifications TABLE 2 and not be limited initially to 18 months to cover the continental coastal counties with estimated 84% of the population, but in four months covering the entire Portuguese territory. Fig.13 compares the number of municipalities in each phase of the switch off and its range of inhabitants. The black line is the % of the dwellings with pay TV in the same municipalities.

tail. As mention in previous sections the target viewers of the free signal TV are few less than 8 million DUs. However part of these viewers will adopt pay TV at the normal rate of the 7% plus an assumed 5% due to the transition pressure. It is also taken into account that 5% of the DU will not adopt any system and will disconnect TV. This leads to a total of 6.388.385 potential DUs. Manipulating this estimation with the latest numbers of percentage of covered population provided by the operator 3 the forecast DU per type of technology and number of TV sets can be estimated as in Fig. 14.

Fig.13 Municipalities characterization by switch off phases. Adapted by the author from ANACOM data.

3 On line, access July 2012. http://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=344891&themeMenu=1# horizontalMenuArea

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period of time both the analogue and digital (LIC), the cost of the awareness campaign to accelerate the transition (MKT), the cost of dismantling the analogue network (ANL), the costs of reimbursement and subsidization of digital receivers (SUB), the cost of planning and installation of DTT sites (NET) and the inherent maintenance expenses (MNG). But there are not only expenses to the operator. Each year it receives the fee for each TV operator that broadcast in the digital packet (CHN), (4).

( 4)
Where and represent the number of correspondent items that the operator has to pay for.

Using some estimated values to each parcel, the comparative results are presented in Fig. 15. Fig. 14 Forecast number of free TV DUs (up left), receiving technology (up right), separation by the number of TV sets (middle) It is also estimated that not all the DU will buy the digital receivers at once, but distributed in a four year period, Table 7. TABLE 7 ESTIMATED PERCENTAGE OF DWELLING UNITS BUYING DIGITAL
EQUIPMENT

Fig. 15 Comparative costs for the TDT players. 1 2 5% 3 1% As can be seen in Fig. 15, the society cost was high at the initial switch-off period due to the fact that an initial investment was needed to adapt its technology to the new digital standard, but then it converges to a constant value due to the government taxes. It is curious to see also from Fig. 15, that the investment cost for the society and for the operator is similar due to the extra cost for the technology update. The operator was also high due to the network deployment, and then it converges to an overall income due to the equilibrium between the maintenance cost and the income payment from the Television providers. Finally it can also be seen that the country costs is actually an income all over the time, due to the huge amount of taxes that are collected.

Year Adoption (% DU)

0 50%

10%

The costs associated to the society, that means the final user, concern the value of the equipment necessary to receive the new digital signal, namely set up boxes (SET) or new televisions (TEV), antennas (ANT) and installation (INST), plus the audio-visual taxes pay annually (TAX), (2).

(2)
Where and represent the number of DUs that py for each one of the correspondent items.

The costs of the country concern the costs of the 2 national channels in the digital packet (Cnch). Beside the outgoing parcel there are some incoming parcels due to the licenses sold to the provider (LIC) and the taxes from the population (TAX), (3). (3)
Where and represent the number of DUs that pay for each one of the correspondent items.

Fig. 16 Cumulative costs for the DTT players. If now we consider the cumulative costs, Fig. 16, the scenario is a little bit different for the operator, since the

For the operator the cost analysis considers the license acquisitions and the cost to simulcast to maintain for a

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initial investment should be amortized during a large amount of time, and several years are needed for the break even, and for the final profit (in this analyses the cost related with bank loans were not considered). In conclusion we can see that the cumulative society cost is huge due to the constant investment without any intangible profit, such as the enhanced technology promises, with more channels and interactive applications and even the possibility to internet broadband access. Moreover specifically in Portugal there are some areas (in the interior) with reduced terrestrial coverage that should be covered by satellite communications.

[5] [6]

[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

6 SUMMARY
In the first quarter of 2012 and as in many countries in Europe, Portugal did the transition of the analog to the digital broadcast television. The transition was made in 3 phases and covered almost 100% of the population or dwelling units either in terrestrial broadcast (94%) or by satellite means (6%). As the switch off took place, some needs for dedicated coverage appear leading to the usage of gap fillers to approach the analog coverage. These gap fillers sometimes payed by the municipalities must to be under the management of the service provider. The digital television in Portugal, so far, maintain exactly the same number of channels, there are no other type of service innovation. The technological abilities of the digital system are clearly underused. Moreover the economical effort request to the population in the first year is comparable to the one made the operators investment in the network, and from the user point of view without any additionally advantage or long turn reward. In parallel it is known (empirically) that some rural and elderly population gave up to watch TV due to the necessary investment for the switch, mainly due to the need of the most expensive satellite receivers or due to architectonic protected areas that do not allow antennas in the roofs leading people to migrate to pay TV. In the path for the European digital agenda this situation is contradictory and need to be overcome. At this time, the switch off is finished and due to its impact in the society and to the technological abilities underused, for the moment, the TDT in Portugal was a golden missing opportunity for the knowledge society ubiquity.

[14] [15]

[16]

[17] [18]

[19] [20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Raquel Castro Madureira acknowledges Fundao da Cincia e da Tecnologia, FCT for the PhD Grant SFRH/BD/62087/2009.

[27]

[28]

REFERENCES
[1] [2] [3] OCDE, "OECD Communications Outlook 2011," 2011. ANACOM, "Servio de Televiso por Subscrio - 4 trimestre de 2011," 2011. CIA. The World Factbook [Online]. Available: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/po.html Lei n. 12/2008, de 26 de Fevereiro- Servios pblicos essenciais, 2008. [29]

CE, "COM 2005/204 Acelerar a transio da radiodifuso analgica para a digital," ed, 2005. Obercom, "Perspectivas de implementao da televiso digital em portugal - caracterizao do acesso TV 2008," 2008. I. N. d. E. INE, "CENSOS 2011," INE2011. ANACOM, "Servio de Televiso por Subscrio - 1 trimestre de 2010," 2010. OberCom, "Anurio da Comunicao 2009-2010," 2011. ANACOM. Available: www.anacom.pt Lei 8/2011 de de 11de Abril (Lei da Televiso), 2011. Lei n.o 27/2007 de de 30 de Junho (Lei da Televiso), 2007. Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 12/2008, of 22 of January, 2008. TDT - ANACOM e ERC homologam propostas da Comisso, 2008. Concurso pblico para a atribuio de um direito de utilizao de utilizao de frequncias de mbito nacional para o servio de radiodifuso televisiva digital terrestre (relativo ao Multiplexer A), 2008. Concurso pblico para a atribuio de um direito de utilizao de utilizao de frequncias de mbito nacional para o servio de radiodifuso televisiva digital terrestre e de licenciamento de operador de distribuio (relativo aos Multiplexers B, C, D, E e F), 2008. Decreto-Lei n. 117/2009, de 17 de Maro, 2009. PROJECTO DE DECISO - Relativo revogao dos direitos de utilizao de frequncias associados aos Multiplexers B a F, 2010. Alterao de canais de funcionamento do Mux A da TDT, 2011. Regulamento n. 95-A/2008 - Regulamento do Concurso Pblico para Atribuio de Um Direito de Utilizao de Frequncias de mbito Nacional para o Servio de Radiodifuso Televisiva Digital Terrestre, ANACOM, 2008. SAPO. (2001). Rede de Emissores e Retransmissores de TV e Rdios FM. Available: http://utilitarios.no.sapo.pt/emissores.htm ETSI, "EN 300 744 V1.6.1 (DVB-T)," in Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Framing structure, channel coding and modulation for digital terrestrial television, ed, 2009. ETS, "ETS 300 421 (DVB-S)," in Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Framing structure, channel coding and modulation for 11/12 GHz satellite services, ed, 1997. ETS, "ETS 300 429 (DVB-C)," in Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Framing structure, channel coding and modulation for cable systems, ed, 1998. EBU, "EN 301 195 V1.1.1," in Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Interaction channel through the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), ed, 1999. ETSI, "ETS 300 800," in Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB);Interaction channel for Cable TV distribution systems (CATV), ed, 1998. ETS, "ETS 300 801," in Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Interaction channel through Public Switched Telecommunications Network (PSTN) / Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN), ed, 1997. K. I. Hiroyuki HAMAZUMI, Naohiko IAI, Kazuhiko SHIBUYA and Makoto SASAKI, "A Study of a Loop Interference Canceller for the Relay Stations in an SFN for Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting," presented at the IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, 2000. GLOBECOM '00 2000. EBU, "TR 101 194 V1.1.1," in Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Guidelines for implementation and usage of the specification of network independent protocols for DVB interactive services, ed, 1997.

[4]

Raquel Castro Madureira is a member of the IEEE and the IEEE. was born in Aveiro in 1972; shes married and has 3 children. She

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got her degree in Engineer in Electronics and Telecommunications in Aveiro University in 1995. Her studies continue with a Master in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineer by Aveiro University (1998), and in Business and Administration by Escola de Gesto do Porto(2006). She started her career as an investigator in Telecommunications Institute in Aveiro. Afterwards she integrated Philips Portugal as a Product Engineer. In mid 1998 she joined the newborn third mobile operator in Portugal, Optimus. After ten years leading the radio access network, she decided to create her own telecommunication consultant company, RN2S, and start her PhD studies in "NGNs and the Universal Service". A.Manuel de Oliveira Duarte is Full Professor at the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, University of Aveiro, Portugal, which he joined in 1978. In 1988 created the Broadband Systems Group of the University of Aveiro, which, over the years, diversified into a series of interrelated research teams, acting in the areas of broadband technologies, optical networks, tele-traffic, network engineering, economic and social aspects of telecommunications, etc. In 1999 become in charge of an educational and vocational training program of the University of Aveiro focused in the areas of industrial design, production technologies and management. Information and communication technologies are also widely used in the context of this program as enablers of enterprise modernization and innovative products and services. Since 2006, by invitation of the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, is National Coordinator of the Inter-Ministerial Commission for Post-Secondary Education. Raquel Matias-Fonseca is a full professor at Aveiro University and a faculty Member, Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering. In 2004 she took her Phd in, Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering in Universidade de Aveiro, with a thesis entitled Deregulation of Markets, Strategy and Performance in the Telecommunications Sector. An approach to the mobile network in Portugal.