Regulatory environment for DVB-I taking shape in Italy

The publication, in December, of release 2.1 of the Italian UHD Book marked a significant step towards the full deployment of DVB-I in that market. Most of the preconditions for the creation of a labelling regime for compliant TV sets – known in Italy as a bollino – have now been fulfilled.

The ongoing market trial of DVB-I that followed the Mediaset-led proof of concept has helped to fulfil the conditions for the bollino. The foreword to the UHD Book 2.1 is dedicated to DVB-I and makes clear that three of the four preconditions have been completed. These are:

• The DVB-I specification has been ratified by ETSI as International Standard.
• There have been DVB-I PoC/trials completed by major Italian broadcasters, showing the real interoperability of an end-to-end system between TV services, network services and receivers.
• On completion of successful trials as per above, the results of the trials have been used to develop the conditions for a new reference Italian “bollino” for the certification of receivers compliant to the requirements included in the current UHD Book 2.1 release.

The remaining condition concerns the publication by the Italian regulator, AGCOM, of a ruling on some guidelines for assignment and usage of LCNs (logical channel numbers) for broadcasters, television companies or operators in relation to broadband TV channel distribution  (e.g. DVB-I or HbbTV streaming). AGCOM is expected to soon organize ‘technical tables’ with the participation of television sector representatives: broadcasters, operators, associations and institutions, that will cover questions specifically related to DVB-I and HbbTV technologies.

Sunrise period

Sources close to the Italian DVB-I market trial anticipate that the results of the above ‘technical tables’ process can be expected in summer of 2024. The subsequent publication of the bollino would kick off an 18-month sunrise period after which it will be mandatory for TV sets on the Italian market to have completed a DVB-I certification process. Such a process will be designed to ensure that TV sets function in the expected manner and that there is consistency across different brands.

The foreword to UHD Book 2.1, which is published by the HD Forum Italia, concludes as follows:

“HDFI hopes that this approach will give more confidence to the operators of the supply chain
and at the same time spread awareness about the involvement and commitment to be given
to allow the introduction of DVB-I technology in the best conditions of use for its success.“

Find more information about DVB-I at: dvb-i.tv

DVB-I at DVB World 2024

DVB-I will be one of the main themes of DVB World 2024, taking place in Munich on 19-20 March. Representatives of both the Italian and German DVB-I trials will participate in both conference and unconference sessions, and demonstrations of DVB-I will be available in the exhibition area.

(Map of Italy courtesy of mapswire.com, CC 4.0)