On the night of Monday December 3 to Tuesday December 4, 2018, technicians will be working on the 9 sites of its main network on the occasion of the ninth phase of the digital terrestrial television (DTT) frequency rearrangement plan. Throughout the operation, around 40 technicians will be mobilized.
As a reminder, the DTT platform remains the leading mode of TV reception in France, with coverage of 97% of the population and 68% of households using it (IFOP survey-May 2018).
The area concerned by this new phase of redevelopment covers more than 2.3 million inhabitants in part of the Nouvelle Aquitaine and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions (Dordogne, Haute-Vienne, Corrèze and Creuse départements, plus parts of Puy-de-Dôme and Allier). Part of the Centre-Val-de-Loire region, around the Indre département, is also concerned.
The main towns are Clermont Ferrand (63), Montluçon (03), Périgueux (24), Limoges (87) and Châteauroux (36).
Homes in this area will need to perform an automatic channel scan to continue receiving all DTT channels.
An operation of precision and expertise
The characteristics of this geographical area and possible meteorological constraints make this operation a delicate one. Interventions require expert know-how and precision. TDF technicians are mobilized before 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 94 TDF sites concerned.
Operations will take place in two stages:
- At the 9 sites on TDF's main network, operations will take place between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Monday night, to enable as many viewers as possible to get their DTT channels back on Tuesday morning;
- At the other 85 sites on the complementary network, the work will continue until the end of the week.
The interventions will mainly concern changes to the multiplexing cell and modifications to the transmission configuration. On this occasion, TDF will modify 193 frequencies.
New frequencies for mobile operators
The rearrangement of DTT frequencies, which began in October 2017, is entering its ninth 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 across France. Fifteen rearrangement phases are scheduled until June 2019. This nationwide frequency reorganization operation concerns all French households.
New Aquitaine, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, part of Occitanie, western Pays de la Loire, Grand Est, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region have already undergone DTT upgrades, as did the Île-de-France region in April 2016, when it switched over to HD 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.
Photo: TDF site in Limoges - Les Cars