On the night of Monday April 23 to Tuesday April 24, TDF technicians will be working on the six main network sites as part of the digital terrestrial television (DTT) frequency reorganization plan. Some forty technicians will be mobilized for the duration of the operation.
From Tuesday onwards, to continue receiving all DTT channels, homes in this area will have to perform an automatic channel scan.
The zone covers almost 1.6 million inhabitants in the east of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region (part of Ain, Savoie and Haute-Savoie) and the south-east of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (part of Jura and Saône-et-Loire). The main towns are Gex (01), Champagnole (39), Mâcon (71), Mont-Salève, Chamonix, Cluses (74) and Chambéry (73).
An operation of precision and expertise
The characteristics of this mountainous region, with difficult access to sites, and bordering Switzerland and Italy, make this operation a delicate one. Interventions require 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 at the 99 TDF sites concerned:
- Interventions will take place at night, between 1am and 8am, on the six main network sites, to enable as many viewers as possible to get their DTT channels back on the following day;
- They will continue for three days at the 93 other sites in 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 206 frequencies.
New frequencies for mobile operators
The rearrangement of DTT frequencies, which began in October 2017, is entering its fifth 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 phases of reorganization will take place between now and June 2019. This nationwide frequency reorganization operation concerns more than 25 million people in France.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, part of Occitanie, western Pays de la Loire and Grand Est have already undergone DTT rearrangements, as has Île-de-France, in April 2016, at the time of the switchover to High Definition DTT. In each phase, the interventions were successful. 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
Digital terrestrial television remains the leading mode of television reception in France, with 68% of households using it. The DTT platform covers 97% of the population.