Finland explores YLE smart card

Following a fall in revenue since digitisation, YLE is considering the use of a Smart card to access DTV services.
Finland’s ministry of justice is to examine the possibility of encrypting DTT transmissions from the public broadcaster YLE and issuing smart cards only to those that have paid the television licence fee.
This method, which could be introduced as soon as 2010, would help shore up YLE’s reduced finances.
Unfortunately not all the DTT receivers in the Finnish market have a smart card slot which has brought about criticism and the suggestion that homes where this is the case should not be penalised further and that the cost of any equipment upgrades should come out of the licence fee.
A similar scheme is reported to be in place in neighbouring Norway, although in Sweden transmissions from SVT which were initially encrypted were quickly made freely available without encryption.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 17th December 2007