On the night of Monday March 26 to Tuesday March 27, some forty TDF technicians will be working on the 13 main network sites in the Grand Est region as part of the digital terrestrial television (DTT) frequency reorganization plan.
From Tuesday onwards, to continue receiving all DTT channels, households in this extended geographical area of the Grand Est (4.5 million French people) will have to carry out an automatic channel scan.
An operation of precision and expertise
This is one of the most extensive and delicate operations, requiring expert know-how and precision. TDF's regional technicians are mobilized in advance and on D-day to restore digital terrestrial television broadcasting as quickly as possible to ensure continuity of service.
A supervision unit has been set up to closely monitor the entire operation on the 101 TDF sites concerned:
- Interventions will take place at night, between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m., on the 13 sites of the main network, to enable as many viewers as possible to get their DTT channels back the next day;
- They will continue for three days on the other 88 sites of the complementary network.
The operations will mainly involve changes to the multiplexing cell and modifications to the transmission configuration. On this occasion, TDF will modify 198 frequencies.
New frequencies for mobile operators
The rearrangement of DTT frequencies, which began in October 2017, is entering its fourth phase. DTT's 3,400 frequencies are gradually being rearranged to enable the transfer of the 700 MHz band to make new frequencies available to operators and thus provide better mobile coverage. Thirteen reorganization phases will take place between now and June 2019. This nationwide frequency reorganization operation will affect more than 25 million people in France.
For the record, New Aquitaine, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, part of Occitanie and western Pays de la Loire have already undergone DTT upgrades, as did the Île-de-France region in April 2016, at the time of the switchover to High Definition DTT. In each phase, the work was carried out successfully. This transfer of frequencies has enabled mobile operators to roll out their 4G networks in the 700 MHz band.
DTT: number one in television broadcasting
As a reminder, digital terrestrial television remains the leading mode of television reception in France, with 52% of households using it. The DTT platform covers 97% of the population.