Presidential support given for digital switchover

French president Jacques Chirac has given his support for digital switchover and has mandated a Strategic Committee to manage the switch to an all-digital environment, planned to take place in the next five years.
The Strategic Committee is headed by the Prime Minister and consists of theMinisteries of culture, industry and national planning, who will work closely with regulators and members of the broadcast industry.
The President has called for an analogue switch-off pilot this year and it is possible that the pilot takes place in the Alsace region. Analogue switch-off is likely to take place regionally over a five year period.
Analogue switch-off will free up the necessary frequencies to increase the coverage of DTT services.
It is planned that 95% of the population will be able to access DTT services when analogue switch-off is completed.
Source: Digitag and  Le Monde
Item added: 7th May 2006