HD DTT up and running by 2010

Terrestrial HD services on the DTT platform are aimed to be up and running in time for the 2010 World Cup according to presentations at the recent DVBWorld 2009 conference in Berlin.
Broadband TV News quotes Graham Plumb, head of distribution technology for the BBC distribution group, as saying that by the launch in 2010, DTT HD services should have reached 30-40% of the UK population.
Initially four HD DTT services are anticipated increasing to five later.
DVB-T2 is currently undergoing practical trials and the capacity savings obtained by the use of the new technology are expected to be 50%.
On the 20th February, DVB-T2 trial transmissions also began from the London Crystal palace transmitter joining those which have been on air from the Guildford transmitter since the 27th June 2008.
During another presentation on the digital dividend Lis Grete Moler from the Danish Broadcasting Corporation made the point that bringing sufficient HD services to the DTT network in competition with satellite and cable will not be possible if governments continue with their plans to sell of the spectrum made available by the switch to digital SDTV services.
Progress to HD DTT channels will require the entire existing analogue broadcast spectrum even using DVB-T2 and MPEG-4, if they are to compete with the other platforms, which already have access to more bandwidth.
Main source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 16th March 2009