This is a list of digital television deployments by country, which summarizes the process and progress of transition from analog to digital broadcasting. The transition to digital television is a process that is happening at different paces around the world. Although digital satellite television is now commonplace, the switch to digital cable and terrestrial television has taken longer. The major terrestrial broadcast standards are DVB-T/T2 (Europe and most of Africa and Oceania), ATSC 1/3.0 (North America and South Korea), DTMB (China, Pakistan, and 2 other countries), and ISDB/Tb (two incompatible variations used in Japan and much of South America).
Africa
Botswana Botswana became the first country in Africa to adopt ISDB-T International on 26 February 2013, evaluated the hierarchical mode of operation, which allows for the simultaneous transmission to fixed, mobile and portable receivers from a single transmitter, advantageous over DVB-T2.
Mozambique
The earliest form of digital television in Mozambique began in 1996 with Southern African pay-TV operator DStv. Channels were transmitted and received via satellites and digital decoders. Some years later, TVCabo, began transmitting at first through analog and later digital means using decoders and an extensive fiber optic network. On 18 January, Mozambique's Ministry of Transport and Communications announced that the country would be adopting the DVB-T2 system for transmission of terrestrial television channels. The implementation is expected to be completed by 2015.
Namibia While Namibia's public broadcasters still rely on analogue transmission and have not announced a transition date to digital television, the pay-TV operator MultiChoice already operates a digital television service using the DVB-T standard.
South Africa The first digital television implementation in South Africa was a satellite-based system launched by pay-TV operator MultiChoice in 1995. On 22 February 2007 the South African government announced that the country's public TV operators would be broadcasting in digital by 1 November 2008, followed by a three-year dual-illumination period which would end on 1 November 2011. The government in January 2011 announced a change in its choice of technology from DVB-T to DVB-T2 with the analog switch off date postponed to December 2013. The rollout of digital television has been further delayed.
MENA
Egypt In 2020 to 2021, for the first time in Africa, HD demonstration content was received via satellite without the need for a separate external receiver or decoder. At the 2021 Industry Day's conference in Egypt, Cairo broadcast quality HD content (with a resolution of 1080 × 720 pixels at 50 FPS) was encoded using AVS encoder (at a bit rate of ).
Iran Iran started the transition to digital TV broadcasting in 2009 using DVB-T MPEG-4 standard. Iran plans to completely switch over to digital TV by 2015. As of summer of 2011, Iranian digital TV broadcast covered 40% of Iran's population.
Israel The Knesset approved the law regarding DTT in late 2007. The Second Authority for Television and Radio is responsible for the deployment of the system - the branded name of which is "Idan+". The system consists of 10 channels: Kan 11, Makan 33, Kan Educational, Keshet 12, Reshet 13, Channel 14, Knesset Channel, Music 24, Israel Plus and Hala TV . DVB-T standard broadcasts using the MPEG-4 Part 10, H.264 (AVC) video and HE AAC+ V2 audio codecs were launched in mid-2009. In August 2015 a DVB-T2 standard system was launched in parallel. In February 2025 the DVB-T standard was discontinued and the country only maintains the DVB-T2 standard.
Kuwait DVB-T2 modern technology for broadcasting TV channels within the borders of the state of Kuwait and broadcasts are received through receivers (receivers) that are connected to television sets if the devices are not supported by this technology. the channels covered by digital terrestrial TV broadcasting? Kuwait State TV package as follows: - The first - The second - Sports - Sports Plus - Enrichment - Arabi - the Council - Spouse - Stay home Most countries of the world have the technology of digital terrestrial television broadcasting. https://www.media.gov.kw/DVBT2.aspx
Morocco National Television Company in Morocco started DVB-T based digital TV deployment in February 2007. Digital TV is now available in the following cities and their regions: Casablanca, Benslimane, Settat, Nouaceur, Mediouna, Mohammedia, Rabat, Salé, Skhirat-Temara, Kenitra, Sidi Kacem, Khemisset, Meknes, Fes, Oujda, Tanger and Marrakech.
Saudi Arabia The first phase of digital terrestrial television (DTT) transmission in Saudi Arabia was launched on 11 June 2006 in the main cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, the ArabNews reports. Assistant Deputy Minister of Culture and Information for Engineering Affairs, Riyadh Najm, said: "The southern city of Abha and the central city of Buraidah will also have the facility within this month." He added, "By February next year (20??) the DTT system will cover not less than 23 cities and that accounts for more than 70 percent of the population". He also said the DTT technology would allow people to receive all the four Saudi channels (Channel One, Channel Two, Arriyadiah and Al Ekhbariya) as well as the Saudi radio programmes (General Programme, Radio Qur'an, Second Programme and European Programme) with better clarity.
Asia
Cambodia A digital television trial was completed on 9 November 2000 – 31 May 2001 and was officially launched on 9 November 2010, by TV5. Analog switch-off will be 2015–2020. As of 2017, Phnom Penh Cable Television and One TV offer encrypted DVB-T2 pay TV services, viewable only with a subscription and set top box with card. In Phnom Penh, the following channels are available free to air: S Movie, SREPLAY (ETV), S Cinema, Nice TV, Fox Sports, Fox Action Movies, ARY Musik, CGTN Documentary, YTN World, SanSha TV, OneTV Sabay 1.
China
In 2003, China’s State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) selected 41 locations for digital television trials, which began later that year. Following national development plans, SARFT created a timetable for transitioning from analog to digital broadcasting. The plan aimed for full digital implementation by 2010 and complete phase-out of analog television by 2015. By the end of 2007, China was estimated to have over 27 million digital TV users. In 2004, a debate emerged over whether the digital television standard developed by Tsinghua University or Shanghai Jiao Tong University should be adopted nationally. In July 2007, China announced a unified national standard, primarily based on Tsinghua University’s technology, which made up 95% of the final version. On 1 September 2005, the first HDTV channel in China, which would be broadcast nationwide later, began to air in Hangzhou.
Hong Kong On 31 December 2007, local broadcasters began airing high-definition television (HDTV) using China’s DTMB standard (1920×1080i). As of now, 12 HD channels broadcast 24 hours a day. Broadcasters in Hong Kong have shown interest in adopting the same standard to facilitate transmission into Southern China and reduce costs associated with format conversion.
India
As of 2012, India had over 600 satellite television channels. The country adopted the DVB-T system for digital terrestrial broadcasting in July 1999. Doordarshan began DVB-T transmissions on 26 January 2003 in the four major metropolitan cities. Terrestrial broadcasts are currently available in both analog and digital formats. Under the Cable Digitalisation Act, all cable networks were required to switch from analog to digital transmission by 31 March 2015, with the transition completed in four phases. India’s digital switchover was implemented in phases, beginning with the four major metropolitan cities—New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai—on 1 November 2012. The second phase covered cities like Patna, Chandigarh, Pune, and Bengaluru, with a cutoff date of 31 March 2013. The third phase, ending on 30 November 2014, included all other urban areas, including state capitals. The final phase for remaining cities was scheduled for 31 March 2015. The nationwide transition to digital broadcasting was completed in December 2016. Digital television in India is also available through Direct-to-Home (DTH) services, which deliver TV channels via satellite directly to viewers’ homes. These services use both Indian satellites, built by ISRO (such as INSAT-4A and INSAT-3C), and international satellites like NSS 6 and Thaicom-2. As of 2010, India had over 23 million DTH subscribers and seven major providers, including Dish TV, Tata Sky, Sun Direct, BIG TV (Reliance), Airtel Digital TV, and the public service DD Direct Plus. With over 110 million TV households and multiple companies competing for viewers, India had the most competitive satellite TV market in the world. In 2012, it became the largest direct-to-home satellite market, surpassing the United States.
Indonesia Indonesia began experimenting with digital television broadcasting in 2008. In January 2014, the Supreme Court annulled regulations issued by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, removing the requirement for an analog shut-off and allowing local analog broadcasters to lease channels allocated for digital broadcasting. From August 2014, UHF DVB-T2 equipment became available for public purchase.
Japan Japan was an early developer of high-definition television (HDTV), initially using an analog system that was later found to be incompatible with digital standards. Digital terrestrial HD broadcasting via the ISDB-T system began on 1 December 2003 in major metropolitan areas and was expanded nationwide by September 2007. By January 2008, around 31 million HD receivers had been sold in the country. Japan considered technical improvements to ISDB-T proposed by Brazilian researchers involved in the SBTVD project, though these changes were not adopted due to compatibility issues. They were instead considered for use in other countries. Adoption of digital TV in Japan was slowed by high equipment costs and concerns about digital rights management. In response, the “Dubbing 10” rule was introduced in July 2008, allowing consumers to make up to ten copies of digital broadcasts. By March 2008, more than 32 million ISDB-T television sets had been installed in Japan. That same year, guidelines were issued for developing PC-compatible DTT receiver units. As part of the transition to digital, analog broadcasting was permanently shut down in parts of Ishikawa Prefecture in September 2010, ahead of the nationwide shutdown scheduled for 24 July 2011. In three prefectures affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami—Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima—the analog shutdown was postponed until 31 March 2012.
South Korea (Republic of Korea)
After a long controversy between the government and broadcasters in South Korea, ATSC was chosen over DVB-T. Since 2005, digital services have been available across the entire country. South Korea also developed its own mobile TV standard called DMB, Digital Multimedia Broadcasting, based on the European technology af Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB). It has a satellite, subscription-based, version (S-DMB), and a free, terrestrial version (T-DMB). T-DMB encountered a wide success, both in South Korea and abroad. For more details see Digital Multimedia Broadcasting.
Malaysia
Malaysia began testing DVB-T in 2006, and limited digital terrestrial television (DTT) services were introduced in January 2014. Digital television was officially launched on 6 June 2017 with the introduction of MYTV Broadcasting. The service initially included nine channels, and the nationwide transition from analog to digital broadcasting was scheduled in stages throughout 2019. The switchover began in Langkawi on 21 July and was completed in West Malaysia on 16 October, followed by East Malaysia on 31 October 2019. Satellite
Astro (DVB-S over Ku-Band) Astro B.yond (DVB-S over Ku-Band and DVB-S2 over Ka-Band) Astro NJOI (DVB-S over Ku-Band and DVB-S2 over Ka-Band) OK Vision (DVB-S2 over Ku-Band) Cable
ABN Xcess (DVB-C, coaxial cable) IPTV
Unifi TV (DVB-IPTV, Fiber, VLAN 600) Astro IPTV (DVB-IPTV, Fiber, VLAN 612) DETV (DVB-IPTV, open Internet)
Pakistan
Digital television has been launched in Pakistan with Chinese assistance as part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor On 20 April 2015, Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping implemented a number of agreements between the two very friendly countries which included Pakistani adoption of the Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcast Chinese standard. The Pakistani side had previously evaluated the other competing digital standards including the European DVB-T and Japanese ISDB-T before rejecting them in favour of the Chinese technology which extremely impressed the Pakistani government. ZTE, a Chinese telecommunications giant, was selected by the Chinese government to roll out digital television services in Pakistan. This will also include staff training and content creation including partnerships with Chinese multinational companies in multiple areas including television sets and set top boxes as a form of "International Cooperation". The Chinese presence in Pakistan's digital landscape has been increasing in recent years and the DTMB adoption by Pakistan and the increasing Chinese information and telecommunications technology in Pakistan is part of the wider Belt and Road Initiative with the goal to great a "Digital Silk Road" in Pakistan to Africa and Europe.
Philippines
Digital television transition in the Philippines started its planning stage in 2006 after the National Telecommunications Commission released a memorandum on what DTV broadcast standard was to be adopted for the country. The commission decided to have UHF TV channels 14–51 at frequency spectrum 470-698 MHz given over to digital broadcast. The commission opted not to choose the ATSC standard, although the Philippines uses the NTSC-M standard. Instead the country started test trials of two different standards, those being the DVB of Europe and ISDB of Japan. Many broadcasters agreed to adopt the Japanese ISDB but some opted for the European DVB. On 11 June 2010, the National Telecommunications Commission of the Philippines announced that the country would adopt the ISDB standard. The first fully operational digital TV channel in the country is GEM-TV49 of the religious group Iglesia ni Cristo. While the Japanese ISDB-T standard was adopted for terrestrial digital TV transmission, digital cable and satellite TV providers in the Philippines such as SkyCable and Cignal use the European DVB system for service distribution to carry some channels based in Europe, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore (which are using DVB) through country-specific feed of them. An internet user had created an online petition urging NTC to adopt ATSC or ATSC 3.0 together with or replace the currently existing ISDB-T.
Singapore Singapore's digital TV (DTV) journey started in 2007 when it was announced that the nation's free-to-air TV channels will go fully digital using the DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial) broadcasting standard. Since 1 January 2007, all seven Mediacorp channels have been broadcast in digital. On 6 November 2007, MDA announced that analogue television would cease to broadcast entirely by the end of 2011, up from the intended 19 February 2010, to facilitate more time for majority of Singaporeans to switch to DTV as soon as possible. The analogue broadcast was finally ceased on 2 January 2012. The adoption of the DVB-T2 standard was decided after a successful trial that was conducted with free-to-air broadcaster Mediacorp in 2009. The trial, which involved some 500 households in Ang Mo Kio and Bedok estates, showed that DVB-T2 was suitable for deployment in Singapore's urbanised environment. DVB-T2 also offers higher efficiency, robustness and flexibility, enabling efficient use of valuable terrestrial spectrum for the delivery of audio, video and data services to fixed, portable and mobile devices.
Sri Lanka The first Television network of Sri Lanka was launched on 13 April 1979. The ITN channel, owned by the Independent Television Network Limited (ITN) became the first terrestrial television channel of Sri Lanka. On 5 June 1979, ITN was converted to a government-owned business and was later brought under the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Act of 1982 along with the newly created Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC). Significant changes occurred in 1992 as the government permitted the establishment of private television networks. Subsequently, the MTV Channel network was launched in collaboration with Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel). Since then many new television networks have come into existence within Sri Lanka. There are also a number of Satellite networks and pay per view television networks in Sri Lanka. The national telecommunications provider, Sri Lanka Telecom also launched an IPTV service in 2008. MTV Channel had introduced Sri Lanka's first 24-hour Television channel,"Sirasa TV" on the 2009 as a thought to satisfy the thoughts of the public to analyse the ongoing global affairs.
Taiwan Digital television launched terrestrially in Taiwan on 2 July 2004. Currently, there are simulcasts of analogue and digital television. Taiwan plans to replace an American analogue broadcasting system NTSC with a European digital TV system DVB-T by 2012 using 6 MHz channel bandwidth just like in Colombia, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago. To assist lower-income families with the switch to digital television, the government plans to provide NT$300 million in aid to purchase converters or for the purchase of new digital televisions.
Thailand
The first digital television service in Thailand was launched by satellite based pay-TV operator IBC in 1996 using the DVB-S system. Starting from December 2000, the Thai national broadcaster Modernine TV began its trial Digital Terrestrial Digital Television (DDTV) service for six months to 2000 selected households in the capital city of Bangkok and surrounding areas on UHF Band 658 MHz and 674 MHz (or Channel 44 and 46) using the DVB-T standard. The trial DDTV service will of current "current" 2 analogue TV channels (i.e. Modernine TV and TV3) in digital, and 2 new digital-only channels, namely MCOT 1 and ASEAN TV. Also provided under the service are seven FM radio stations in digital audio and interactive services. Nationwide implementation was planned to begin by the year 2007 or 2008, although as of August 2008 digital transmission is still only available in the Bangkok Metropolitan Area and possibly deferred. Even though MCOT's trial was a success, the future of the digital terrestrial television transition has become uncertain, especially after the end of Somchai Wongsawat's tenure as the prime minister and the beginning of successor Abhisit Vejjajiva. All the above digital television services are in standard definition and MCOT would have initiated HDTV trials by 2009.
Vietnam
Vietnam tested DVB-T in 2003 from a national school in Ho Chi Minh City. A DVB-T channel is launching in 2001 by VTC Digital. DVB-T2 was launched in 2011 in Vietnam by AVG - Audio Video Global JSC, now is MobiTV by Mobifone - Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services (from 26 February 2016). Analogue signals switched off on 1 November 2015 in Da Nang, Vietnam. Da Nang is the first city in Asean has launched analogue switch off successfully.
Oceania
Australia
Digital Satellite There are many digital satellite TV services in Australia, these are, Foxtel, Austar, Selectv, Optus, TransACT and UBI World TV. Digital satellite television is popular with Foxtel and Austar alone reaching over one quarter of the nation's population.
Digital Free-to-air
Digital terrestrial television in Australia commenced on 1 January 2001, in the country's five most populous cities, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Digital services using DVB-T standards are available nationwide. Analogue transmissions were phased out between mid-2010 and December 2013.
Digital Cable Digital Cable operators in Australia are Foxtel, Neighbourhood Cable in some regional cities in Victoria, and Austar in Darwin. These services are available to the following cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Gold Coast, Canberra, Hobart, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Albury/Wodonga, Mildura and Darwin.
Cook Islands
Digital Free to Air On the Island of Aitutaki - ArauraTV & Radio Ltd have commenced broadcasting in the DVB-T2 format - leapfrogging the technology being used by most terrestrial broadcasters elsewhere in the Pacific. They are currently broadcasting 6 channels of content and this will increase to 8 channels before the end of 2021.
New Zealand In New Zealand, there are several forms of broadcast digital television. Sky's Pay TV satellite service (available nationwide), Freeview's free-to-air satellite service (available nationwide), Freeview's free-to-air terrestrial service and multiple IPTV service providers.
Satellite Sky TV launched New Zealand's first nationwide digital Pay TV service in December 1998 and had a monopoly on digital satellite TV until the launch of Freeview's nationwide digital satellite service in May 2007.
Terrestrial The Freeview terrestrial service is a high definition digital terrestrial television service using AVCHD, launched on 14 April 2008. The service currently serves 86 percent of the population - notable large towns without the service include Whakatāne, Blenheim, Oamaru and Queenstown.
Europe
Albania Analogue terrestrial television in Albania is supposed to switch off in September 2019. Albania has three major forms of broadcast digital television. Terrestrial (DVB-T2) using MPEG4, Cable (DVB-C) using MPEG4 and MPEG2, and Satellite (DVB-S). In addition multiple IPTV services are available.
Belgium
Belgium now has three major forms of broadcast digital television: Terrestrial (DVB-T/DVB-H), Cable (DVB-C), and Satellite (DVB-S). In addition, IPTV services are available. In Belgium, all the regions have completed the analog switchover (DVB-T).
Bulgaria
Croatia Analogue terrestrial television was switched off in Croatia on 5 October 2010. Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) started to transmit DVB-S programmes in 1997. It transmits all four state-owned TV channels (HRT 1, HRT 2, HRT 3 and HRT 4), and three radio stations (HR 1, HR 2 and HR 3). Croatia started to test DVB-T transmission early in 2002. It transmitted 4 national TV channels (HRT 1, HRT 2, HRT 3 and Nova TV) on a network of 9 transmitters built by Odašiljači i veze, completed in 2007 and covering about 70% of the country. Entire Croatia is covered with DVB-T in from 5 October 2010. The analogue switch-off process took place region by region, starting from January 2010 in Istria and Rijeka region and completing the switch-off on 5 October 2010 when the final region (Zagreb) was converted fully to DVB-T. MPEG-2/SDTV is selected as a platform for free-to-air channels, initially with two MUX channels covering, where MUX A would be used by public TV Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) and MUX B used by commercial TV stations, while later MUX C and MUX D will be populated by HD and regional channels, respectively. Croatia has started transition in 2019 to DVB-T2 HEVC for national broadcast.
Czech Republic Czech Republic launched first experimental DVB-T broadcast in May 2000, which was then made available to the public in October 2005. Analogue terrestrial television was switched off on 30 November 2011. In November 2019, Czech Republic started the transition to the DVB-T2 standard with H.265 (HEVC) codec. This transition has been finished on 28 October 2020 (delayed from the original plan, which was 24 June 2020), when the last DVB-T transmitter was switched off. As of October 2025, there were 4 nationwide DVB-T2 multiplexes in the Czech Republic with 46 free-to-air TV channels and 18 radio stations.
Denmark Denmark completed its transition to digital terrestrial television on 1 November 2009. Since then, the market has evolved toward integrated digital services. By 2026, Danish viewers have increasingly moved away from traditional cable toward high-performance IPTV platforms that offer localized content and advanced streaming features across the Nordic region.
Finland Analogue terrestrial television was switched off in Finland on 1 September 2007, and analogue cable television on 1 March 2008. All pay-TV channels switched to DVB-T2 in May 2017. Finland switches fully to DVB-T2 in 2025
France
Germany
Hungary
Ireland
In Ireland, there are a number of providers of digital television. These include Sky Ireland which is operated by Sky plc (available nationwide), while Virgin Media Ireland, Magnet Networks and Cablecomm provide various digital-cable services. Digital Television is also available by IPTV provider Magnet Networks.
In 2008 Boxer TV were awarded the position to operate Ireland's Digital Terrestrial Television platform which was meant to be rolled with RTÉ NL over the next 5 years. This service was to offer subscription services and free-to-air channels sometime in late 2009 using MPEG4 standard. On 9 May 2009 it was reported OneVision were then likely to operate the pay DTT service. The official announcement was made later that month. Due to an economic downturn in the Irish economy, Boxer TV, which operated in Sweden and Denmark claimed it was unfeasible for the company to operate in Ireland. On 11 May 2009 it was reported Onevision would operate the pay DTT service. Further setbacks were announced on 9 July 2009 when it was confirmed by Ireland's national broadcaster that RTÉ would not launch its DTT service until other media partners were ready to launch their services. The original launch date was September 2009 and finally took place in October 2010.
Italy
Latvia Latvia now has three major forms of broadcast digital television. Terrestrial (DVB-T) using MPEG4 and MPEG2, Cable (DVB-C) using MPEG4 and MPEG2, and Satellite (DVB-S). In addition multiple IPTV services are available.
Lithuania Lithuania now has three major forms of broadcast digital television. Terrestrial (DVB-T) using MPEG-4, Cable (DVB-C), and Satellite (DVB-S). In addition IPTV services are available.
Netherlands
The Netherlands now has three major forms of broadcast digital television: Terrestrial (DVB-T2), Cable (DVB-C), and Satellite (DVB-S2). In addition IPTV services are available. In the past analogue TV was broadcast in PAL terrestrial and cable. Terrestrial broadcasting switched to the digital standard (DVB-T) in 2007 and to DVB-T2 in 2019. Cable started broadcasting digital in 2001. Most cable companies switched off analogue in 2021. Satellite broadcasting switched to the digital standard (DVB-S) in 1996 and to DVB-S2 around 2010. The last DVB-S channels were shut down in 2016. DVB-H was only available for a brief period between 2008 and 2011 in the bigger cities. Lack of interest led to the shutdown of DVB-H.
Norway The shutdown of the analogue service in Norway started on 4 March 2008, and was finished on 1 December 2009. (MPEG-4)
Poland
Analogue broadcast switch-off started on 7 November 2012 and was completed by 31 July 2013.
Portugal
Portugal started its first digital broadcast with TVCabo Satélite (nowadays known as "NOS TV Satélite") in 1998, later, in 2001, implementation of Interactive services brought digital TV to the wired cable networks. While the Satellite branch was (and still is) popular in areas where the Cable branch is not available (such as remote areas and villages), iTV never became successful, and was later discontinued in 2002. Digital broadcast was still available under the name "powerbox" (after the STB used to receive the signal). In 2005, a little "analog switchover" happened, where coded analog channels (known as Premium) would cease broadcast in favour of powerbox. Every pay-TV provider offers digital television. As of 2010, all Premium channels in all pay-TV providers, are digital. DTT started on 1 November 2008, for Lisbon and Castelo Branco, and on 26 April 2009, for 80% of the country, and the government plans to cover the rest of the country until 2010-2011 New Year's Eve. Analog will then be switched off 6 months after TDT covers 87% of the country via terrestrial transmitters and 13% via satellite complementary coverage.
Romania Acoperire - Televiziunea Digitala Terestra | tvdigitalaTeleviziunea Digitala Terestra | tvdigitala (In Romanian; Archived) DVBT.ro – Televiziune Digitală Terestră (In Romanian; Archived) CHIRplus_BC Printjob (In Romanian; Archived)
Russia
Russia uses DVB-T2 standard for digital broadcasting. The transition to digital terrestrial TV broadcasting was initiated in Russia in 2009 and took almost 10 years. Russian digital broadcasting consists of two "multiplexes" with 10 channels each which are generally available everywhere in the country. There is also a third "multiplex" which was originally supposed to be regional-oriented but it is deployed only in some regions, e.g., Moscow.
Serbia The transition to DVB-T2 digital television in Serbia started on 1 September 2014, and was finished on 1 June 2015. Analogue terrestrial television was finally switched off on 7 June 2015. As of that day, nearly 97.8% of country's population is covered by digital signal.
Slovenia
Slovenia completed its switch to DVB-T (MPEG-4) on 1 December 2010 with the termination of all analogue transmissions on a single day. There are two multiplexes carried nationwide as well as several local multiplexes.
Spain The development of digital terrestrial television was very similar to the failure of ITV Digital in the United Kingdom. In 1999, digital terrestrial television was introduced in the country by the pay per view platform Quiero Television. In May 2002, statewide operators were required to start broadcasting in DVB-T. Yet, Quiero TV ceased transmissions in 2002 after a commercial failure. Unlike the UK, the three and half multiplexes left by the platform were not reassigned to other operators, and so 5 channels were squashed into a single multiplex. On 30 November 2005, digital terrestrial television was relaunched as a free service with 20 channels and 14 radio stations, along with 23 regional- and local-language channels in their respective areas. Each multiplex has a minimum of 4 SD channels each or one HD channel. By 2010, coverage reached over 98% of the population, and the analog signal was switched off on 2 April 2010.
Sweden
The shutdown of the analogue service in Sweden started on 19 September 2005, and was finished on 29 October 2007. The shutdown of the analogue service in Sweden started on 19 September 2005, and was finished on 29 October 2007. As of 2026, the Swedish market has shifted significantly toward high-bandwidth IPTV solutions, with providers utilizing fiber networks to deliver 4K and multi-device streaming services across the Nordic region.
United Kingdom The United Kingdom now has five major forms of broadcast digital television, direct-to-home satellite services provided by British Sky Broadcasting (branded as Sky) and Freesat, digital cable television services provided by Virgin Media and WightFibre, and a free-to-air digital terrestrial service called Freeview. In addition there are two IPTV systems known as TalkTalk TV owned by The Carphone Warehouse, and BT Vision, which is provided by BT. Individual access methods vary throughout the country.
Terrestrial
The initial attempt at launching a digital terrestrial broadcasting service on 15 November 1998, ONdigital (later called ITV Digital), was unsuccessful and the company went into liquidation. ITV Digital was replaced in late 2002 by Freeview, which uses the same DVB-T technology, but with higher levels of error correction and more robust (but lower-capacity) modulation on the "Public Service" multiplexes in an attempt to counter the reception problems which dogged its predecessor. Rather than concentrating on Pay TV services, Freeview uses the available capacity to provide a free-to-air service that includes all the existing five free-to-air analogue terrestrial channels and about twenty new digital channels. All services are transmitted in SDTV mode. 31 March 2004 saw the return of a limited pay-television offering to the digital terrestrial platform with the launch of Top Up TV. This new service is designed to appeal to those who do not want to pay the high subscription fees that Sky Television and the Cable networks demand. The service carries a restricted hours service of some of the UK's most watched channels including the Discovery Channel, Gold, Discovery Real Time, British Eurosport and Cartoon Network, sharing just three different slots. In October 2006, Top Up TV renamed itself Top Up TV Anytime, taking advantage of the increase in the popularity of digital video recorders, and its limited channel space. Now over 100 programs (not channels) are broadcast overnight and added to the box's hard drive, and may be watched at any time. Channels that provide content for the overnight service include MTV, Nickelodeon and Hallmark Channel. 2005 saw the first areas of the United Kingdom losing their analogue signal in a pilot test. The residents of Ferryside and Llansteffan in Carmarthenshire, Wales who had not already upgraded to digital television were given a free set-top box to receive the Freeview television service, which includes Channel 4 (previously unavailable terrestrially from transmitters in Wales) and S4C2, which broadcasts sessions of the National Assembly for Wales. Digital transmissions for this pilot commenced in December 2004, at which time a message was added to the analogue picture advising viewers that the analogue services would end in February 2005. 2005 also saw the announcement by the regulator Ofcom about the proposed analogue switch off plans for the UK. The switch off progressed on an ITV region by region basis that began in 2008 with the Border region, and ended in the UTV region in 2012. The coverage of the three public service broadcasting multiplexes is the same as that enjoyed by the former analogue TV stations (98.5% of the population), while the three commercial multiplexes cover 90% of the population.
Freeview HD
The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 ran terrestrial HDTV trials involving 450 homes in the London area during June–December 2006 on locally unused frequencies. As part of this trial, the BBC broadcast BBC HD, which was free to air but could not be received by any set-top boxes commercially available at the time. It could however be received and played back by any PC equipped with a DVB-T card using a software H.264 decoder. With two channels (BBC HD and ITV HD), Freeview HD completed a "technical launch" on 2 December 2009 from the Crystal Palace and Winter Hill transmitters. This time, in addition to H.264 being used as the codec, the broadcast utilised DVB-T2 rather than the DVB-T used by standard Freeview and the earlier test broadcasts, thus requiring users to purchase new reception equipment. Freeview HD was the first operational TV service in the world to use the DVB-T2 standard. Freeview HD set-top boxes and televisions were made available at the consumer launch of the service in early 2010. In order to qualify for the Freeview HD logo, receivers need to be IPTV-capable and display Freeview branding, including the logo, on the electronic programme guide screen. On 25 March 2010 Channel 4 HD was added to Freeview HD on channel 52 with a placeholding caption; it launched on 30 March 2010, coinciding with the commercial launch of Freeview HD. S4C Clirlun launched in April 2010 in Wales, where Channel 4 HD is not available. BBC One HD was also added to the service on 3 November 2010.
Cable Virgin Media (formerly known as NTL:Telewest, after a merger of NTL Incorporated with Telewest Global, Inc.), became in 2006 the first "quadruple-play" media company in the United Kingdom, bringing together a service consisting of television, broadband internet, mobile phone and fixed-line telephone services. Virgin Media ranks as the UK's second largest pay TV service, having 3.6m subscribers and 55% national availability. Trials of the UK's first HDTV service, the TVDrive PVR from Telewest, began on 1 December 2005 on a commercial pilot basis before a full launch in March 2006. Due to the merger between NTL and Telewest, the TVDrive was made available to NTL cable customers in the Teesside and Glasgow areas on 16 November 2006. In January 2007, NTL:Telewest began renting the STB nationwide and since the acquisition of the Virgin Media name, it is now officially available in all areas with the new V+ branding. Virgin Media is also the only cable provider to supply video on demand services. As of October 2009, Virgin Media are broadcasting seven HD channels with plans for further new HD channels during 2010. WightFibre also provide cable television to the residents of the Isle of Wight.
Satellite On 1 November 2005 ITV turned off encryption on all of its satellite-based signals, following the lead from the BBC. These transmissions are on a limited spotbeam which is aimed primarily towards the United Kingdom, via the Astra 2D satellite located at 28.2 degrees east. This theoretically limits reception to Iceland, Ireland and the United Kingdom, allowing ITV to fulfil licensing agreements with content producers. However, many people report successful reception of these signals from across Europe by using larger dishes. Sky+ HD is offered by BSkyB in both Ireland and the United Kingdom as an add-on to their existing Sky subscription service. The BBC is broadcasting BBC HD as a free-to-air channel from the Astra 2D satellite, and the channel can be viewed for free with suitable satellite reception equipment. There are additional equipment and subscription charges for HD from Sky TV but they are broadcasting over 30 channels in the HD format. Sky also offers a free-to-air version of its regular Sky service known as Freesat from Sky. Freesat from Sky provides a non-subscription card for public service broadcast channels Channel 4 and Channel 5, however Film4, Film4+1 are free-to-air. On 12 July 2006, the BBC and ITV announced a free-to-air satellite service as a competitor to Freesat from Sky, to be called Freesat. The service was officially launched on 6 May 2008 and covers all BBC and ITV digital TV channels, plus interactive services, radio channels, and other channels. It is being touted as the satellite equivalent to Freeview, especially for areas unable to receive the Freeview DTT service.
Overseas Arctics
Greenland The analog signal was switched off on 9 January 2012. Free-to-air digital terrestrial television using DVB-T is now covering all cities in Greenland, broadcasting TV and Radio stations from the Greenlandic and Danish broadcasting corporations. Subscription based digital terrestrial television is currently available in the capital Nuuk, Qaqortoq, Ilulissat and Qasigiannguit through Nuuk TV. In addition to channels from Greenlandic Broadcasting Corporation, Nuuk TV, and Danish Broadcasting Corporation, the service offers additional channels from C More, and from American and European cable networks (typically subtitled in Danish).
North America
Canada
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has adopted the same digital television standard for stations in Canada as the United States and Mexico. The CRTC initially decided not to enforce a single date for transitioning to digital broadcasts