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Ireland completes spectrum auction after analog shutoff, LTE rollout pegged for mid-2013
The dust has settled after Ireland's recent spectrum auction, and wouldn't you know it, Vodafone, O2, Meteor and Three have picked up a combined 140MHz of paired spectrum across the 800, 900 and 1800MHz bands. According to the country's regulator, ComReg, the auction will effectively double the spectrum available in these bands and will allow for LTE deployment across Éire. For its part, O2 has committed to begin its 4G rollout in the first half of 2013. To ensure quick deployment, all license holders are required to make their new spectrum available to 70 percent of Ireland's population within three years. In all, the companies will pay €855 million ($1.09 billion) for spectrum rights until 2030, of which, €482 million is payable up front. Curiously enough, the country's 800MHz spectrum was freed up just last month after its analog shutoff. To find a complete breakdown of the situation, feel free to hit up the announcement from ComReg at the source link below. [Thanks, Neil] [Photo credit: Seattleye / Flickr]
Londoners mourn as teletext goes dark, a victim of the DTV transition
Despite the many advantages of digital broadcast television, the transition is separating Europeans from a reliable source of information known as teletext. Citizens of London are the latest to experience the loss, as analog signals in the region were switched off just yesterday. Ceefax, a service of the BBC, has provided millions of Britons with news, sports, weather, television listings, subtitles and games for the past 38 years, and is now accessible only in Kent, Sussex, north-east England and Northern Ireland. Soon, it may cease to exist altogether. Seen as a precursor to the internet, teletext is a free service that's heavily rooted in analog PAL signals, where small packets of data are sent in the vertical blanking interval, which is otherwise unnoticed by viewers. Because the information is broadcast, users were never subject to network congestion, and only needed to wait a brief moment for their desired page to be transmitted -- more advanced televisions even cached this information locally. As part of the airwaves, the service is naturally free, and in that sense, it lacks a suitable replacement. As with all progress, however, there are casualties, and teletext was an unfortunate bystander. Those who cherished the service can take a moment to relive the memories in the links below.
UK sets analog TV cutoff for October 2012, finally sees a show after US viewers
It's not that we're upset UK viewers get to watch series like Luther, Misfits and Bedlam long before they officially air here (or in the case of Doctor Who, hours), but we are finally glad to know how a story ends before they do. In this case, regulators have decided that after analog broadcasting shutoffs have already taken place across much of the region, the final transmitters will go dark next year. Just as occurred here, the unused spectrum will then be auctioned off, while most TV viewers will survive, whether on digital OTA broadcasts, pay-TV or otherwise. We made it through with only one TV shot dead in cold blood, here's hoping our counterparts across the Atlantic can handle the changeover as smoothly.
Nielsen reports the effects of the digital transition
This is a really interesting report of the affects of the digital transition on ratings. Like the fact that "TV stations that transitioned to digital only experienced an 8 percent share decline immediately following the analog shut-off." But even more interesting is this that same number goes up to 13 percent if the broadcaster switched from UHF to VHF because of reception problems -- no wonder some broadcasters are going back to UHF. The other thing that piqued our interest was that cable companies seemed to be the real winners here as 18.2 percent of those facing the decision to buy a converter box, just ordered cable instead -- little do they know that they are just putting off getting a box. [Via TVB]
A few broadcasters are moving back to UHF
Warranted or not, there has always been a stigma against UHF stations -- greatest Weird Al Yankovic movie ever -- so maybe that had something to do with many broadcasters electing to move back to their original frequency assignment after the digital transition. Whatever the reason, some broadcasters quickly realized the advantages of UHF over VHF when it comes to ATSC and have petitioned the FCC to move back. This is good news for everyone having problems pulling in those signals, but it really makes us wonder why the FCC didn't just standardize on UHF when it had the chance. At any rate, the moral of the story is that if you're having problems receiving your favorite VHF stations after the transition, don't hesitate to be vocal about it; because who knows, maybe they'll actually listen and move to UHF as well. The cool part is that moving frequencies is a pretty painless process thanks to virtual channel numbers -- unless of course you're using Windows Media Center.
CEA president Shapiro talks DTV transition
With the analog shutoff safely in the rear view mirror, CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) president Gary Shapiro took some time to talk about the move to our new digital airwaves (and also looked ahead to our 3D futures). All in all, some pretty interesting reading, but he makes a great point in chiding the broadcast industry -- by waiting until the last minute to get onboard the HD bandwagon, broadcasters missed out on what could have been positive market differentiation for their services versus cable and satellite. All's well that ends well, though, and we're just gad the plug got pulled on analog (with few casualties to boot), and we'd like the CEA president should know we celebrated the move. [Via DailyWireless, image courtesy CEA]
DTV converter coupon deadline is July 31, anyone still need one?
In case you still needed a digital TV heads up, the end of this month is your last opportunity to nab a $40 coupon for a converter box. Seeing as how they're actually available, and the DTV switch has been in effect for a few weeks you'd think anyone in need would have long looked into this already, but just in case you're waiting until the last moment, the L.A. Times mentions July 31 is the cutoff. Anyone know someone that went from OTA bliss to a blank TV June 12 and still hasn't upgraded yet?[Via L.A. Times]
Analog TV says goodnight
Did you catch the sound of a falling tree in an empty woods this past weekend? In case you didn't hear it, analog "nightlight" transmissions went dark Sunday -- which amounted to 121 stations in 87 markets signing off for the last time. Absent the nightlight info screens, rock-dwellers will now have to emerge from their hermitages to figure out what happened to their TVs, but as we say in the 21st century, "them's the breaks." Aside from areas being served by analog translator and/or low power service, this marks the end of the analog broadcast TV era. Way to go, America -- we haven't heard any reports of riots or mass hysteria, and we'd dare say the citizenry handled this tech transition better than the millenium bug.
2.1 million households let the DTV transition pass them by
And to think we've been worrying about all those poor people who weren't ready for the DTV transition, only to find out that they don't even watch TV. We mean, what other explanation could you have for the fact that it's been solid week after the big analog shutoff and 2.1 million households still can't watch TV. Of course not all of these people just let the DTV transition pass them by, some of them are affected by the reception problems, and others probably don't even understand the question. Either way we'll find out soon enough as most broadcasters should be full power by July 1st and no doubt Nielsen will have the results of another poll out by then.
Digital transition causing grief for Windows Media Center users
You know we really thought Microsoft learned its lesson back in February when the first wave of the analog channels went dark, but we were wrong. A quick trip to The Green Button shows that the hottest topic this weekend is the fact that any ATSC channel that changed frequencies on Friday, doesn't work anymore. The exact cause isn't known, but what is, is that while anyone who has a $50 digital converter box can just rescan to find the channels at their new home, Media Center users have to go well beyond anything your mom could do to get all the channels back. Our guess is that instead of looking at the PSIP data of discovered channels, Media Center uses guide data to map the frequencies to the channel and this data wasn't updated on Friday. On Vista you'll want to first manually delete the channels in your atscchannels.xml file, then you can add the missing channels via a menu (Settings>TV>Guide>Add Missing Channel) -- Windows 7 users don't need to edit the file first. You will need to know the new frequency when doing this, which you can find on Antennaweb.org. Or you can just wait a few days until Microsoft gets its act together, it isn't like there's anything on TV in the Summer anyways.
Digital TV transition: 12 hours in, how are things going?
The day is finally here, after the pushback and staggered changeover, analog television broadcasts across the country are giving way to a future of digital TV and making room for new services to take over the airwaves soon. Still, after months of announcements, coupons sent and many dollars spent there are still millions who will be caught unawares as their television blinks off today. It's been an incredibly long time coming, so take a look back at some of our coverage of the run up to the digital TV switch, and why not drop us a line to let us know of any interesting local coverage in your area or experiences (procrastination-fueled runs on converter boxes, transition gaffes, mob violence) going on. A roundup of FCC links and national press coverage is after the break.Engadget's lead-up coverage: T-minus one year till the US analog shutoff: are you ready? The original DTV transition: what could've been President Obama signs DTV delay bill into law Digital TV transition spoof video is both informative and hilarious Wilmington, NC kills analog dead as broadcasters go all-digital
Will the DTV transition get more people watching OTA television?
With mere hours separating us from an analog TV broadcast-free existence, Harris has released poll results indicating many may switch to free OTA broadcasts, shutting off their current cable and satellite subscriptions. The way we see it, the 55 percent indicating they were either somewhat or very likely to switch to antenna probably represent many people who are only just finding out you can get HDTV without paying for service -- not to mention those who are paying and not even watching high definition at all. Still, with the channels available on digital TV broadcasts plus online streaming, there's a lot more choices, anyone else stepping back from their pay-TV habit?
NAB disputes Nielsen's numbers, claims only 1.75 million unready for transition
With less than 24 hours to go until analog TV goes dark for a certain segment of American, and the NAB wants to make sure everyone is aware that Nielsen's unreadiness claims aren't accepted by all. The point of contention is a mere 1 million people and really comes down to those who are "almost ready." Meaning, the NAB doesn't count respondents who claimed to have already started getting ready, but aren't in any hurry to make the actual switch until the very last minute. Differences in opinion aside one thing is for sure, at some point tomorrow every TV watcher in the US will be digital ready, or they will no longer be a TV watcher.
Nielsen's final pre analog shutoff survey finds 2.5% still unready
In the last update before analog TV goes off after June 12, Nielsen's results indicate 2.5% of, or 2.8 million U.S. homes are still completely unready and will be cut off after it goes through. That's around three million less than it was the last time we were this close to the DTV transition, hopefully all reading this are on the digital television ready side (six easy steps right here.) Don't forget, many stations are switching at different times, so check your local broadcasters before rescanning so you don't have to do it twice, Friday night / Saturday morning is probably your best bet.
With a week to go, Obama urges the remaining few to make DTV preparations
Just in case you were living in fear of another last minute switch on the digital TV transition date, be at ease, President Obama issued a statement urging those who aren't ready yet to prepare as there will be no further delays, and for those of us in the know to make sure that people around the way are getting the message. With a week to go (again) is there anyone still reading this that hasn't gotten their digital TV future straightened out yet?
Ask Engadget HD: What's the best digital TV converter box?
As we can tell, not everyone is the type of person that gets ready for things ahead of time, there's always one guy waiting until the very end of the deadline to get things done and for once, it's not us. Enter Sam, owner of an older analog HDTV that isn't currently hooked up to satellite or cable. With a DTV converter coupon burning through his pocket, his question is simple, what's the best DTV tuner out there? "I bought a brand new HDTV before the holidays and moved my old Toshiba down to the basement, right now there's just an antenna and an old DVD player connected to it. I figure a second Blu-ray player wouldn't hurt, and at least until I get another satellite receiver hooked up I'll just use an antenna to watch the game on Sunday. Of course, I didn't think of picking up a digital TV tuner until now and I'm already missing a few local stations, but there's so many to pick from, any suggestions?" Alright, we know a few of you are still kicking it old school with strictly antenna setups and have been ready for the analog shutoff for quite some time, so you probably have plenty of experience with different digital TV converter boxes by now. Give Sam (and everyone else) the benefit of your knowledge before it's too late.Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.
FCC received record 55,000 calls after analog shut off test
Want a preview of what things will be like June 12? A coordinated shut off soft test on May 12 spurred a record 55,000 calls to the FCC's help line on May 12. Even after the delay, of the 3 million or so estimated households still completely unready it's a far bet that the first few days of the transition to all digital television will bring even more calls to figure out what to do.
One month to analog shutoff: DTV Unreadiness drops below 3 percent
We're finally within range of the DTV switch (and using this image again), and Nielsen is reporting it estimates only 3.3 million or 2.9% of U.S. households are still unready for the days after June 12. That's 200k less than when we last checked in and it looks like this should be the time everything actually happens. Got your switch throwing outfits all laid out?
US Senate intros bill to keep people from falling off the "digital cliff"
With less than 5-percent of US homes failing to make it under the analog shutoff limbo stick (and still a month to go), there's no reason that come June 12th a whole lot of stations won't be conducting their own shutoff festivities. Just to make sure that there won't be a pack of digital lemmings headed for a step function-like cliff, the US Senate has introduced the DTV Cliff Effect Assistance Act, which allocates $125 million through 2012 to help pay for digital repeaters and translators to fill in those areas that will go uncovered after the switch occurs. This is government money, so you know there's a few strings attached -- in this case, the new bits of infrastructure will also have to serve up wireless communications and broadband traffic where possible. Let's see -- more people with DTV and broadband wireless coverage? Add a tick in the "yes" column for us, please!
Want to know what the analog shutoff looks like on site?
The digital TV transition is (finally) almost here (again,) but as frustrating as it's been for us watching TV, there's been considerable planning and equipment in place for broadcasters that is where the actual change happens. Check out this YouTube video (embedded after the break) of CET Cincinnati signing off of analog broadcasts for the last time just a few days ago. It's safe to assume this is the most excited you'll see people about a button press/lever pull all day.[Thanks, Matt]
