CSA readies DTT coverage

In its plenary meeting on 22 March, the French broadcasting regulator approved a letter for the French Prime Minister detailing coverage zones, ahead of the impending launch of DTT on 31 March. The CSA says the current aim of reaching 85 percent of the population from 115 transmission sites by 2007 is perfectly achievable, but the fate of the remaining TV viewers calls for action by the public sector. For the most part, they are people who live in mountainous or border zones beyond the reach of DTT in the coming years. In the letter, the CSA chairman Dominique Baudis calls for the creation of a working group to consider how the remaining population can gain access to digital TV, by various means (extension of DTT transmission sites, increasing transmission power, use of satellite, cable and xDSL). This working group would contain representatives of the CSA and of the government Media Development Directorate.
Meanwhile, the public sector DTT channels are all being carried on the Atlantic Bird 3 satellite, which can be received throughout the country (and beyond).
Source: Advanced-television.com
From Sotires Eleftheriou in Paris