Report of the Digital Broadcasting Migration Working

REPORT
THE PROPOSED SWITCHOVER
FROM ANALOGUE BROADCASTING
TO DIGITAL BROADCASTING IN SOUTH AFRICA
DIGITAL BROADCASTING MIGRATION WORKING GROUP
Final version - 17 November 2006
Document Status
The preparation of this report has been facilitated by the Digital Broadcasting
Migration Working Group (“WG”), established by the Minister of Communications.
The report has been compiled by acknowledged industry experts with the aim of
providing recommendations on specific terms of reference set by the Department
of Communications. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and to
provide a consensus view when required, it should not be assumed that all
member organisations of the WG support all aspects of the report. The views
expressed in the report are those of the industry experts working in the WG and
are not necessarily binding on the organisations that the experts represent in the
WG.
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acronyms ........................................................................................................................5
1. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................8
2. SCOPE OF DIGITAL BROADCASTING ................................................................ 10
2.1
DEFINING DIGITAL TELEVISION STANDARDS AND DELIVERY
PLATFORMS ............................................................................................................ 11
2.1.1
Digital Terrestrial Television ................................................................... 11
2.1.2
Satellite Digital Television ...................................................................... 11
2.1.3
Digital Cable Television.......................................................................... 12
2.1.4
Internet Television and IPTV .................................................................. 12
2.1.5
Digital Mobile Television......................................................................... 14
2.2
DEFINING DIGITAL RADIO STANDARDS AND DELIVERY NETWORKS.... 14
2.2.1
Digital Terrestrial Radio.......................................................................... 15
2.2.2
Digital Satellite Radio ............................................................................. 17
2.2.3
Internet Radio and Mobile Radio ............................................................ 18
2.3.
STANDARDS, FORMATS AND APPLICATIONS RELATED TO DIGITAL
BROADCASTING...................................................................................................... 19
2.3.1
Image Quality and Digital TV Formats.................................................... 19
2.3.2
Aspect Ratios......................................................................................... 21
2.3.3
Interactive Broadcasting and Return Path Channels .............................. 21
2.3.4
Electronic Programming Guide (EPG).................................................... 23
2.3.5
Set-top Box (STB) .................................................................................. 23
2.4
POLICY APPROACH TO TELEVISION AND RADIO .................................... 31
2.5
POLICY CONSIDERATIONS IN PLATFORM SELECTION ........................... 33
3. PUBLIC POLICY OBJECTIVES FOR DIGITAL BROADCASTING SWITCHOVER36
3.1
GLOBALISATION AND NEPAD .................................................................... 37
3.2
GLOBAL INFORMATION ECONOMY ........................................................... 38
3.3
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT POLICIES ......................................................... 39
3.4
GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION.................................................................. 40
3.5
PUBLIC POLICY ADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL BROADCASTING................. 41
4. PUBLIC INTEREST ISSUES IN SWITCHOVER FROM ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL
BROADCASTING ......................................................................................................... 44
4.1
PUBLIC TRUSTEE MODEL........................................................................... 45
4.2
PUBLIC INTEREST OBLIGATIONS .............................................................. 47
4.3
PUBLIC INTEREST IN A DIGITAL BROADCASTING ENVIRONMENT ........ 49
4.3.1
Fostering Democracy and Democratic Values (Diversity)....................... 49
4.3.2
Reflection of National Identity, Culture and Character ............................ 53
4.3.3
Universal Access and Redress............................................................... 59
4.3.4
Consumer Protection ............................................................................. 60
4.3.5
Public Broadcasting ............................................................................... 60
4.3.6
Community Broadcasting ....................................................................... 67
4.3.7
Minimum public interest requirements .................................................... 70
4.4
IMPLEMENTATION POLICY CONSIDERATIONS ........................................ 75
5. IMPACTS OF TRANSITION ON BROADCASTERS
AND THE EXISTING
LICENSING REGIME.................................................................................................... 77
5.1
CONTENT DELIVERY AND THE CONTENT VALUE CHAIN........................ 78
5.1.1
Content Delivery in a Digital Environment .............................................. 78
5.1.2
Digital Content Value Chain ................................................................... 89
5.3
EVALUATION OF EXISTING POLICY AND LICENSING REGIME ............... 92
5.3.1
Policy and Licensing of Digital Terrestrial Television in Europe .............. 92
5.3.2
Policy and Licensing of Digital Sound Broadcasting in Europe ............. 103
5.3.3
Existing Digital Broadcasting Satellite Model in South Africa ................ 106
5.3.4
New Legislative Framework and Digital Broadcasting Licensing .......... 107
3
5.4
APPROACHES TO NEW BROADCASTING SERVICES, ICT ACTIVITY AND
BROADCASTING ON NON-TRADITIONAL NETWORKS....................................... 124
5.4.1
New Broadcasting Services ................................................................. 124
5.4.2
ICT Activities within the traditional broadcasting spectrum ................... 126
5.4.3
Broadcasting on non-traditional networks............................................. 128
5.5
IMPACT OF TRANSITION ON EXISTING BROADCASTING SERVICES AND
PROTECTION OF RIGHTS .................................................................................... 129
5.5.1
Impact of Transition.............................................................................. 129
5.5.2
Protection of rights in transition ............................................................ 130
6. IMPLEMENTING DIGITAL BROADCASTING IN SOUTH AFRICA ..................... 132
6.1
OPTIONS FOR DIGITAL SWITCHOVER .................................................... 133
6.2
ECONOMIC MODELING OF DIGITAL SWITCHOVER IN SOUTH AFRICA 137
6.2.1
Scenario One ....................................................................................... 138
6.2.2
Scenario Two ....................................................................................... 138
6.2.3
Scenario Three .................................................................................... 138
6.3
LICENSING AND SURRENDER OF ANALOGUE FREQUENCIES............. 139
6.3.1
Digital Radio......................................................................................... 139
6.3.2
Digital Television .................................................................................. 139
6.3
DRIVERS OF CONSUMER ADOPTION...................................................... 148
6.4
CO-ORDINATION OF DIGITAL MIGRATION PROCESSES ....................... 149
6.5
DIGITAL TELEVISION SWITCHOVER PROCESS...................................... 150
6.5.1
Digital Switch-on .................................................................................. 150
6.5.2
Digital Switchover................................................................................. 150
6.5.3
Analogue Switch-off ............................................................................. 151
6.6
DIGITAL DIVIDEND..................................................................................... 151
6.6.1
Where does the Digital Dividend come from?....................................... 151
6.6.2
Digital Broadcasting needs post-2015 .................................................. 153
4
Acronyms
3G
Third Generation Mobile Technology capable of carrying voice,
data and multimedia
AM
Amplitude Modulation; often used to refer to medium wave
broadcasting
API
Application Programme Interface
ATSC
Advanced Television Systems Committee
BEE
Black Economic Empowerment
BFN
The Black Filmmakers Network
CA
Conditional Access
CAM
Conditional Access Module
CODEC
Encoder/Decoder
COFDM
Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex
CSN
Community Services Network (TV channel operated by M-Net)
DAB
Digital Audio Broadcasting (usually applied to Eureka 147)
DBAB
Digital Broadcasting Advisory Body
DMB
Digital Multimedia Broadcasting
DR
Digital Radio
DRM
Digital Radio Mondiale
drm
Digital Rights Management
DSB
Digital Sound Broadcasting
DTG
Digital TV Group
DTH
Direct to Home satellite delivery of content
DTT
Digital Terrestrial Television
DTV
Digital Television
DVB
Digital Video Broadcasting
DVB-C
Digital Video Broadcasting – Cable
DVB-H
Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld
DVB-S
Digital Video Broadcasting – Satellite
DVB-S2
Digital Video Broadcasting – Satellite version 2
DVB-T
Digital Video Broadcasting–Terrestrial
DVD
Digital Versatile Disk
ECA
The Electronic Communications Act, No. 36 of 2006
EDTV
Enhanced Definition Television
EPG
Electronic Programming Guide
5
ETSI
European Telecommunications Standards Institute
FCC
Federal Communications Commission
FM
Frequency Modulation; sound broadcasting system in the VHFband
FTA
Free-to-air
HD
High Definition
HDTV
High Definition Television
IBOC
In-Band On-Channel
ICASA
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa
ICT
Information & Communication Technology
IPO
The Independent Producers Organisation
IPTV
Internet Protocol Television
ISDB-T
Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting for Terrestrial
ITU
International Telecommunication Union
ITU RRC-06
ITU Regional Radiocommunication Conference for the planning of
digital broadcasting
LSM
Living Standards Measure
MAPPP-SETA
MBMS
Media, Advertising, Publishing, Printing And Packaging Sector
Education Training Authority
Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service
MediaFlo
Media Forward Link Only
MFN
Multi-frequency Network
MHP
Multimedia Home Platform
MPEG
Moving Picture Experts Group
MPEG-2
Compression technology developed by MPEG currently in use for
digital broadcasting
MPEG-4
Improved compression technology developed by MPEG currently
being introduced globally for digital broadcasting
MW
Medium Wave
OS
Operating System
The PANSALB Act
Pan South African Language Board Act, No.59 of 1995
PDA
Personal Digital Assistants
PPV
Pay-Per-View
PVR
Personal Video Recorder
QAM
Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
6
RCT
Return Channel- Terrestrial return path from viewer to broadcaster
in interactive broadcasting
QPSK
Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
RDS
Radio Data System
RF
Radio Frequency
RRC
Regional Radiocommunication Conference for the planning of
digital broadcasting services
SABC
The South African Broadcasting Corporation
SADIBA
The Southern African Digital Broadcasting Association
SATFA
South African Table of Frequency Allocations
SDMB
Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting
SDTV
Standard Definition Television
SFN
Single Frequency Network
SMS
Subscriber Management Service
STB
Set Top Box
SW
Short Wave
TBN
Trinity Broadcasting Network
TDN
The Digital Network Group
TV
Television
VHF
Very High Frequency; sound and television broadcasting services
in the band 88- 254 MHz
VOD
Video on Demand
VOIP
Voice Over Internet Protocol
UMTS
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
UHF
Ultra High Frequency; broadcasting services in the band 470-3000
MHz
WG
Digital Broadcasting Migration Working Group
WARC
ITU World Administrative Radio Conference
7
1.
INTRODUCTION
Digital technologies are changing the way services are delivered, leading to a blurring of
the boundaries between types of services and the means of delivery, and eroding the
traditional distinctions between text, audio and video. This process of change is often
referred to as convergence, alluding to the convergence that is taking place between the
previously separate sectors of print media, data, telecommunications and broadcasting.
The pace of change is not uniform across all sectors. In South Africa, for example,
convergence first took place at the level of transactions where digital technology allowed
consumers to carry out a number of familiar activities such as banking, buying and
selling in new ways. This led to the promulgation of the Electronic Communications and
Transaction Act, No. 25 of 2002, to regulate this new way of transacting electronically
and create certainty in the market on the use of electronic transactions. The next area
where convergence has been active is that of telecommunications, which has grown to
be more than just the provision of voice services and value added services to include
broadcast content delivery. This convergence between telecommunications and
broadcasting led to the promulgation of the Electronic Communications Act (ECA), No.
36 of 2006, and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Amendment
Act, No. 3 of 2006 (ICASA Amendment Act). However, as mentioned previously the
pace of change is not uniform and this convergence between telecommunications and
broadcasting is likely to be a protracted affair if left to market forces alone unless specific
steps are taken to ensure that the current public, commercial and community terrestrial
broadcasting services switchover1 from analogue transmission networks to digital
transmission networks, thus opening the doorway to an enhanced and perhaps
interactive broadcasting experience for the public.
The Minister of Communications (“the Minister”), in her Budget Speech in 19 May 2005,
announced the establishment of a Digital Broadcasting Migration Working Group (“WG”)
to develop recommendations and contribute towards the development a national
strategy for the migration of broadcasting systems from analogue to digital. The
Minister indicated that the WG would consist of representatives from the broadcasting
industry, Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), government,
civil society, organised labour and consumer groups.
The WG was mandated to assist government in creating a digital agenda that informs
broad communication policy in South Africa, as well as key national economic policy that
integrates the knowledge economy into the vision of the information society.
The first meeting of the WG was held on 26 August, at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways,
Johannesburg. This inaugural meeting focused on setting the terms of reference for the
WG and organising the WG into working committees. At this plenary meeting four
committees were established, namely the:
•
•
•
•
Policy Working Committee;
Content Working Committee;
Economic Working Committee; and
Technical Working Committee (the terms of reference of each working committee
are set out in Appendix A).
1 Switchover, for the purposes of this report, is defined as the progressive migration of households from analogue-only reception to digital reception of
broadcasting transmissions.
8
Given the differing terms of reference, each committee determined the research and
drafting process it would follow in developing its recommendations. In respect of the
technical and policy working committees, the broader working committee divided the
work among smaller task teams who then provided drafting for discussion and
agreement.
In respect of the content working committee, a questionnaire was developed and
completed by members of the independent production sector, in order to assess the
level of production readiness. Both the Independent Producers Organisation (IPO) and
the Black Filmmakers Network (BFN) were asked to consult their members on their state
of readiness for digital production. The BFN subsequently provided a report and briefing
to the committee. Broadcasters were also asked to make a presentation outlining their
state of readiness for a digital domain. Presentations to the committee were made by the
SABC, M-Net and e.tv. The committee also approached the MAPPP-SETA to provide
advice on its training and development activities for a digital domain. Finally, the
committee was of the view that a specialised legal expertise was required to make
meaningful recommendations on intellectual property issues. Consultants were briefed
to advise the committee in relation to various matters arising from the migration of
broadcasting services from analogue to a digital.
In respect of the work of the economics working committee, the need was identified for
an economic modelling exercise in order to determine the economic viability of digital
switchover in South Africa. The economics working committee subsequently drew up a
task directive and approached the Department of Communications (DoC) for funding in
order to engage economic experts to conduct the above study. Consultants were
engaged to provide an economic model that would allow for scenario planning taking
into account the costs and benefits to government, the consumer, broadcasters and the
signal distributors.
The scenarios presented in the economics report provide a broad framework for the
impact of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), based on three alternative timeframes. The
model that has been developed by the consultants is appended to this report and should
be used to develop further scenarios in managing the digital switchover process on an
ongoing basis.
The WG would recommend that the Minister not disband the WG immediately after the
handing in of the report on digital switchover in South Africa. This would put government,
the regulator and even the proposed independent body in a position to access or utilise
the collective expertise of the WG in developing a digital switchover strategy and
managing the switchover process.
9
2.
SCOPE OF DIGITAL BROADCASTING
The scope of work of the WG was clearly set out by the Minister as being limited to
developing recommendations and contributing towards the development of a national
strategy for the switchover of broadcasting systems from analogue to digital
broadcasting in South Africa. It is clear from this scope that the digital switchover of
existing analogue broadcasting networks is not limited to the terrestrial broadcasting
platform, as the broader term of “digital broadcasting” is used.
This led to the WG attempting to determine what is captured in the scope of the term
“digital broadcasting”. The WG decided that Digital broadcasting essentially means
the practice of using digital techniques to encode audio and video signals and to transmit
digital data rather than analogue waveforms on networks. Coupled with the use of
advanced digital compression techniques this will result in more efficient bandwidth
usage compared to analogue broadcasting services, allowing a content provider more
room to provide broadcasting and electronic communication services, or to provide a
higher-quality signal than has previously been available.
It was decided by the WG, that in line with implementation globally, digital broadcasting
can still be divided into two streams, namely television and radio (audio or sound
broadcasting). In practice though, it was admitted that this distinction is difficult to
maintain in a digital era as sound-broadcasting services can now be provided by digital
television technologies and video can be broadcast using digital radio technologies. The
WG, therefore distinguished on the basis of the primary content offering between
services and the following definitions were identified. Digital television (DTV) means
the use of digital modulation and compression to transmit video, audio and data signals
to consumer access devices (or receiver sets), and Digital Sound Broadcasting (DSB)
or Digital Radio means the use of digital modulation and compression to transmit audio
programmes (music, news, sports, etc.) only.
In the future when multimedia content, irrespective of the nature of the content, is
distributed on any network and on multiple platforms it is likely that this distinction
between television and radio will fade away to be replaced by a distinction between
fixed, nomadic and mobile delivery of multimedia content.
Broadcast systems were invented on the basis that signals would propagate terrestrially.
Although satellite broadcasting systems became a possibility in the 1960’s, terrestrial
networks continue to be the primary delivery systems for television and radio
broadcasting services. All broadcast systems require significant frequency spectrum
which are a finite resource. One of the main benefits of a switchover to digital
broadcasting is the freeing up of such valuable frequency spectrum, as well as improving
the quality and quantity of broadcasting services. There have been a number of
developments over the past twenty years and various technology platforms are capable
of providing digital television and radio. Around the world, satellite direct-to-home (DTH)
operators have been launched, new digital cable networks have been built and many
analogue cable networks upgraded. Recently, traditional telecommunications networks
(broadband) and mobile telecommunications networks have begun offering broadcasting
content (television and radio programming services) using digital technologies, allowing
offering such as Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and 3G mobile television.
10
The implication of these different technologies is that as the switchover from analogue to
digital broadcasting takes place, there is no reason why the traditional focus on the
terrestrial platform should be maintained. In fact a scenario is possible whereby multiple
platforms (cable, broadband, terrestrial or satellite) collectively and individually could
provide full digital television or radio services.
The WG felt that despite recent moves towards technology neutrality, in legislation such
as the ECA, there was still merit in distinguishing for the purposes of this Report
between the different technologies by which digital content is delivered to the public or
subscribers.
2.1
DEFINING
DIGITAL
PLATFORMS
TELEVISION
STANDARDS
AND
DELIVERY
In line with the traditional policy approach in South Africa, with regards to broadcasting,
of distinguishing between delivery on the basis of terrestrial, satellite and
cable/broadband the following means of delivery and relevant technologies were
identified by the WG.
2.1.1
Digital Terrestrial Television
Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) means the implementation of digital technology to
provide a greater number of channels, especially when using Standard Definition
Television (SDTV); and/or better quality of picture when using Enhanced Definition
Television (EDTV) or High Definition Television (HDTV); and sound when using Dolby
Digital2 through a conventional aerial instead of a satellite dish or cable connection. The
main technology standards used are Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC)
standard in North America, Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB-T) standard
in Japan, Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB-T) in Europe. These and other transmission
standards were developed to replace traditional analogue terrestrial broadcasting with a
digital broadcasting equivalent.
2.1.2
Satellite Digital Television
Satellite Digital Television means the implementation of digital technology to combine
large numbers of channels onto available bandwidth via satellite for reception by
consumers via satellite dishes. The greater radio frequency bandwidth available to
satellite operators usually allows them to outperform DTT operators in terms of the
number of channels offered. The costs of satellite dishes have been reduced in the past
three years making them affordable to the average consumer.
2 Dolby Digital, also known as AC-3, is a digital audio coding technique that reduces the amount of data needed to produce high quality sound. Dolby
Digital takes advantage of how the human ear processes sound. Dolby Digital is used with digital versatile discs (DVDs), high definition television
(HDTV), and digital cable and satellite transmissions. It has been selected as the audio standard for digital television (DTV) in the United States of
America. The European DVB standard, however, does not use Dolby Digital for audio, but instead uses MPEG standard technology for both the audio
and video signals.
11
The technology standard used globally is Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite (DVB-S),
although the other main standards such as ATSC and ISDB have also made provision
for satellite direct-to-home broadcasting (DTH) in the standards. Digital satellite
television is based on the DVB-S (EN 300 421) standard and has been deployed in
South Africa since 1995. Digital satellite television has similar spectrum efficiency
advantages to DTT.
DVB-S2 (EN 302 307) is the next generation of DVB family standards that is 30% more
bandwidth efficient than DVB-S. In addition, digital satellite television has the benefit of
providing universal service at a more affordable transmission cost than DTT. DVB-S2
(TR 102 376) is the successor to DVB-S announced in 2005. It offers a 30% efficiency
gain achieved through:
• New modes of operation, namely Variable Coding and Modulation (VCM) and
Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM).
• New error correction code called Low Density Parity Code (LDPC), and
• New modulation schemes
DVB-S2 is targeted not only for traditional broadcast, but also for interactive services
and professional applications like contribution and distribution for DTV networks.3
2.1.3
Digital Cable Television
Cable television (often shortened to cable) means a system of providing television, radio
or sound programming and other services to consumers via radio frequency signals
transmitted directly to people’s televisions through fixed optical fibres or coaxial cables
as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional television broadcasting in
which a television antenna is required to receive signals. Although prevalent in other
parts of the world, cable television was never introduced in South Africa. In North
America and Europe analogue cable television is being upgraded to digital. Digital cable
television means a type of cable television that delivers more channels than possible
with analogue cable by using digital video compression. Digital cable also enables bidirectional (two-way) communication, enabling services such as the ability to purchase
pay-per-view (PPV) programming and video on-demand (VoD) services.
2.1.4
Internet Television and IPTV
Traditionally, television was only distributed via cable, satellite or terrestrial systems.
However, with the increase in Internet connection speeds, advances in technology and
decreases in connection costs a new trend has emerged where traditional broadcast
television content and “internet only” television content has become accessible on the
Internet and traditional telecommunications broadband networks. A clear distinction is
being made between Internet Television and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), which
lends itself to regulatory distinctions as well.
Internet television is seen, in terms of the internet model, as being similar to the normal
consumer internet experience in that the model is open to any rights holder as it is based
on the same publishing model that exists on the World Wide Web (Internet), namely that
anybody can create a website and publish that on a global basis. In fact, Internet
Television operates in the same fashion as it is accessible from any type of computer (or
any other consumer device that can access the internet) and connection, it is also not
3 Eutelsat S.A. High Definition TV via Satellite (Paris, France: Eutelsat S.A., 2006)
12
tied to a specific household or Set Top Box (STB). In other words, it gives the content
publisher the ability to reach consumers anywhere in the world on multiple devices
independent of any specific carrier or network operator using streaming technology
based on the Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG)4 compression standard usually.
The content publisher may be from the formal media sector or the informal sector (user
generated content). The model can be free-access or restricted access subject to
payment. Internet Television is transmitted over the Internet using the Internet Protocol
(IP), which sometimes results in it being called Internet Protocol Television (IPTV).
However, most advocates of the open model Internet Television approach reserve the
term IPTV for another model, namely the model of marketing video and television-type
content through secure and protected IP telecom networks.5
IPTV in this context is not television that is broadcast over the internet, but the method of
sending information over a secure, private network that is geographically bound. IPTV is
generally funded and supported by large telecom providers who intend providing a
competitive product for digital cable and satellite broadcasting services. Traditionally,
voice and broadband telecommunication networks have been viewed as a way of
delivering voice, internet or data type services, however, convergence is leading to
broadband networks being seen as a way of delivering a range of data, voice and video
services to households. The IPTV service is often provided in conjunction with Video ondemand and may also include Internet services such as Web access and voice-overinternet protocol (VOIP), where it may be called Triple Play and is typically supplied by a
broadband operator using the same infrastructure. In businesses, IPTV may be used to
deliver television content over corporate local area networks (LANs) and business
networks. IPTV STBs are essentially cut down PC's in their own right and are capable of
interacting with other devices such as PDA's, mobile phones, and the Internet to provide
a truly flexible solution allowing local information to be tailored to specific regions (e.g.
weather and news from a local area).6
The nature of internet television being based on a global internet model means that
similar to the internet it is not possible to regulate this type of service as it usually
operates outside the borders of countries in which it is received. IPTV in contrast, works
on the same model as cable and satellite television as it entails the deployment of
infrastructure and devices to access it within the borders of a country which are all
managed and operated by the broadcasting service and network operator. The fact that
the infrastructure deployed is based in regions and in suburbs which are connected to
consumer premises (households) makes it possible to subject IPTV to regulation similar
to that in place for traditional broadcasting networks.
In South Africa, where there is no legacy cable television infrastructure to upgrade to
digital, a “greenfields” roll-out of IPTV seems to make more sense than introducing
digital cable television. An advantage of IPTV is that it uses Internet protocols to provide
two-way communication for interactive television. It is also possible to receive Internet
based service notifications for things such as incoming email while watching IPTV. If
IPTV is packaged with a digital phone, a caller ID could pop up on screen when the
telephone rings. IPTV is already being introduced in international markets, with providers
in many countries including Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, France, Spain, Ireland, and the
United Kingdom.
4 MPEG is the name of a family of standards used for coding audio-visual information (e.g. movies, video, music) in a digital compressed format. The
major advantage of MPEG compared to other video and audio coding formats is that MPEG files are much smaller for the same quality. The use of
MPEG is not restricted to the Internet it is the preferred compression standard on terrestrial and satellite platforms as well.
5 Good, R. IPTV vs Internet Television – Key Differences. <http://www.masternewmedia.org/2005/06/04/iptv_vs_internet_television_key.htm> (4 June
2006)
6 Ibid.
13
2.1.5
Digital Mobile Television
Digital Mobile Television is a new television broadcasting service that has become
possible due to convergence, where the content is broadcast or streamed not to
traditional television sets but to mobile phones or other portable devices. There are three
main radio technology families for delivering broadcast content to mobile phones or
devices:
• In-band cellular broadcast techniques such as the Multimedia Broadcast/
Multicast Service (MBMS) extension to Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System (UMTS);
• Terrestrial digital broadcast networks and their extensions, such as Digital Video
Broadcast transmission to Handheld terminals (DVB-H) based on DVB-T
standards, Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting, based on T-DAB
standards (T-DMB), Media Forward Link Only (MediaFLO), a Qualcomm
proprietary solution improving DVB-H, and ISDB-T, a Japanese digital television
allowing HDTV as well as reception on handsets; and
• Hybrid satellite/terrestrial systems, such as Satellite Digital Multimedia
Broadcasting (SDMB) in Korea, MobaHO! in Japan, and the recent DVB-H
adapted for S-band and the hybrid operation concept, which Alcatel is proposing
to the DVB Forum as an extension of DVB-H.
It is important to note that these technologies all offer varying degrees of mobility and
reception performance versus cost of deploying a network for mobile reception.7
The principle of technology neutrality in regulation should prevail and mobile services
could be allowed on any of the multitude of mobile digital broadcast platforms available,
including T-DAB, DMB, DRM, DRM+ and DVB-H. There is also a potential in South
Africa that DVB-H and DVB-T could be used in hierarchical modulation mode, both being
broadcast from the same transmitters in a digital broadcasting network. However, such
a choice by the broadcasting service and/or electronic communications network service
would introduce some limitation in terms of coverage and number of services, as DVB-H
requires denser coverage. This would therefore result in DVB-H being confined to only
using Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation. The decision to use this mode
should therefore be left to the commercial decision of broadcasting services operating on
a DTT platform.
2.2
DEFINING DIGITAL RADIO STANDARDS AND DELIVERY NETWORKS
There are numerous digital terrestrial sound broadcasting standards in operation
throughout the world, as well as some new standards that are currently under
development. The ITU Regional Radiocommunication Conference (RRC-06) on Digital
Broadcasting has adopted the Eureka 147 DAB standard for countries in Africa and
Europe. Eureka 147 is able to operate in the frequency ranges 174- 240 MHz (Band III)
and 1452-1492 MHz (L-Band). However, globally most of these services have been
deployed in Band III.
7 Satellite-evolution.com. “Mobile Television: Stronger Together, Weaker Apart” in Satellite Evolution EMEA March/April 2006, pp. 28-36
<http://www.satellite-evolution.com/portal/_portal.cgi?page=emeaissues2006.htm>
14
The sound broadcasting sector, in South Africa, are of the opinion that the existing AM8
and FM 9 services do not meet the needs of all South African listeners. The analogue
services in the congested spectrum are currently unable to deliver on the published
policy objectives to amongst others adequately serve the 11 official national languages
provide the expansion of Greenfield station’s service coverage and facilitate the
licensing of new services in key markets10. In certain cases, a shortage of spectrum in
the Very High Frequency (VHF) - FM band prevents the licensing of new sound
broadcasting services, or the expansion of existing broadcasters’ coverage. The
introduction of digital sound broadcasting services could remedy this situation. It is
argued, that the same reasoning and motivation for the introduction of DTV applies to
radio and that the digitisation of radio is critical to ensure its continued relevance in a
converged digital environment in the future. It should be noted that Digital Radio, in
addition to what is listed below, can also be provided in the form of audio bouquets using
any of the standards and platforms identified above for DTV. In the context of DSB, it is
once again possible to distinguish between terrestrial, cable/broadband and satellite
delivery together with the accompanying technologies or standards.
2.2.1
Digital Terrestrial Radio
Digital Terrestrial Radio is more commonly known as digital audio broadcasting, which is
used both to identify the generic technology of digital audio broadcasting, and specific
technical standards, particularly the Eureka 147 (DAB) standard. The technology used
includes Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) globally in medium wave (MW) and short wave
(SW) bands In-Band On-Channel (IBOC) in North America, Integrated Services Digital
Broadcasting (ISDB-Tsb) in Japan, and Eureka 147 in Europe, Canada and parts of
Asia.
The main objective of radio stations converting to digital systems is to enable higher
fidelity, greater noise immunity, and new services. However, since FM stereo with good
reception provides hi-fi sound, digital radio systems around the world find it difficult to
motivate consumer take-up based on improved audio quality alone, its introduction is
also hampered by a lack of global agreement on standards. Eureka 147-DAB uses
Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CODFM) modulation which is also
used for the DVB family of standards and is designed to operate in Band III (174 MHz to
240 MHz) and the L-Band (1452 MHz to 1492 MHz). Roll-out of large area coverage of
T-DAB services has been largely in Band III. The T-DAB rolled-out in Europe has been
predominantly in Band III. The ITU Regional Radiocommunication Conference on Digital
Broadcasting 2006 (RRC-06) has recommended the adoption of the Eureka 147 (DAB)
standard for countries in Africa and Europe. Mass produced receivers for T-DAB (Eureka
147) are available from more than 15 different suppliers in numerous mobile, portable,
car and home forms. Prices have fallen to below $7711, but this is still more than what
the lower LSMs (Living Standard Measure) in South Africa can afford.
8 AM broadcasting is broadcasting using amplitude modulation and is also often used to refer to mediumwave broadcasting (MW).
9 FM broadcasting is broadcasting which makes use of frequency modulation.
10 Independent Communications ASA. The Review of Ownership and Control of Broadcasting Services and Existing Commercial Sound Broadcasting
Licences, Position Paper. (Johannesburg: ICASA, 13 January 2004)
11 www.worlddab.org
15
In the United States of America (USA) digital radio schemes maintain compatibility with
traditional analogue broadcasting schemes based on a 200 kHz channel allocation grid
for FM and a 10 kHz channel allocation width for AM, enabling an approach known as
IBOC. With IBOC, both analogue and digital signals are sent in the same channel,
allowing older analogue radio sets to still receive the signal. There is an increase in
noise and the associated degradation to the analogue signal to noise ratio is managed
through increasing the power ratio between the analogue carrier and digital signal
blocks. This has the benefit of simplifying the problem of frequency allocation in the
USA, since the existing radio broadcast frequencies can be used for digital
transmissions. Initially, three schemes were being promoted in the USA all based on
CODFM modulation, these have now collapsed into one scheme known as High
Definition (HD) Radio for digital broadcasting using existing FM and AM stations. As the
South African FM radio band plan is based on 100 kHz channels and not 200 kHz, as is
the case in the US, it is not possible to introduce HD Radio in South Africa without replanning the entire South African radio broadcast frequency allocations and retuning
every FM transmitter. Accordingly, the WG do not consider this technology to be viable
or relevant to the South Africa situation.
In addition to the T-DAB technology and HD Radio there is also DRM. Digital Radio
Mondiale is an international non-profit consortium focused on designing and
implementing an open-source platform for digital radio broadcasting, especially on
shortwave. DRM uses COFDM technology and can operate in several modes with
varying degrees of spectrum bandwidth requirements, signal robustness and audio
quality. One hybrid mode allows both digital signals and analogue signals to be
combined and broadcast simultaneously. In this mode the digital audio quality is highly
limited and voice based speech codecs are used.
With multiple 9 kHz channels
combined DRM can deliver FM-like quality stereo services.
The main advantage of DRM is that it provides a means of radically improving the audio
quality of services using frequencies below 30 MHz. Depending on the mode selected
DRM can also transmit other digital data besides digitised music, including text, pictures,
and computer programs (data-casting) — as well as RDS-type12 metadata or
programme-associated data like DAB does. DRM has been designed especially to use
older transmitters designed for audio AM, so major new investments are not required for
early adopters. The encoding and decoding can be performed with digital signal
processing, so that small computers added to a conventional transmitter and receiver
can perform the rather complex encoding and decoding. The WG hold the view that it
may benefit South Africa to investigate opportunities for the introduction of broadcasting
services using the DRM standard.
DRM+ is an extended version of the existing DRM standard, which is being developed to
operate in all broadcast bands below 120 MHz; i.e. primarily the VHF-FM Band 87.5-108
MHz. DRM+ is being developed to meet a requirement by certain European and South
American broadcasters who need a switchover path to digital broadcasting for both AM
and FM systems using a single standard. Given the current utilisation of the FM Band in
South Africa, and the demand for additional sound broadcasting services, DRM+ may
provide a solution to the problem in future. The standard for DRM+ is expected to be
adopted by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in 2007, and the
design, development and testing phases are expected to be completed by 2008-2010.
12 Radio Display System (RDS) is a radio broadcast technology for displaying the artist, album, and track title information on FM radio receivers.
16
As currently envisaged the standard will require bandwidth within the FM band and will
require broadcasting services in the FM band to be switched off before the DRM+
services can be introduced. DRM receivers are not currently available nor mass
produced. Japan in contrast to other countries has adopted a different technology that it
developed called ISDB as its DTV and DSB format to allow radio and television stations
to convert to digital. This standard, which has not been used outside of Japan, would not
be recommended by the WG as there do not appear to be worldwide economies of scale
developing to reduce the costs of the radio sets based on this standard.
2.2.2
Digital Satellite Radio
Digital Satellite Radio can be described as a satellite-based direct-broadcast radio
service in which digitally encoded audio entertainment material is broadcast to
terrestrial-based receivers, either directly from an orbiting satellite, or in cases in which
the receiver is in a shielded location--from the satellite to the receiver via a terrestrial
repeater station. Unlike, Digital Terrestrial Radio, Digital Satellite Radio services are
commercial business entities, which offer a package of channels as part of their service
— requiring a subscription from end users to access its channels. Currently, the main
providers are WorldSpace, XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Satellite radio
uses the 2.3GHz S band in North America, and generally share the 1.4GHz L band with
local Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) stations elsewhere. It is a type of direct broadcast
satellite, and is strong enough that it requires no satellite dish to receive. Due to the
high orbit of the satellites, two or three are usually sufficient to provide coverage for an
entire continent. Local terrestrial repeaters may be required to enable signals to be
available if the view of the satellite is blocked, for example, by high rise building in
metropolitan areas.
XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio dominate the American market with
satellites providing coverage for the continental USA. This dominance extends into
Canada as both satellite radio providers are partners in two of three satellite radio
services which have applied for licences in Canada and been approved by the Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Elsewhere in the world,
WorldSpace tends to be the main sound broadcasting player and it has its own satellites
covering most of Europe, Asia and Africa. Only proprietary WorldSpace receivers can
receive the signal and many of the programs are available only to subscribers. Of course
all the satellite subscription television broadcasting services also provide an audio
bouquet in addition to their television bouquets. The main difference being that they
target the household, rather than the car and mobile receiver market primarily addressed
by satellite sound broadcasting services.
In 1992 the ITU World Administrative Radio Conference (“WARC 92”) allocated the
frequency band 1 452 – 1 492 MHz to the broadcasting service and the broadcastingsatellite service. In terms of the provisions of ITU Radio Regulation No 5.345 (“RR
5.345”) the use of the band 1 452-1 492 MHz by the broadcasting-satellite service, and
by the broadcasting service, is limited to digital audio broadcasting and is subject to the
provisions of Resolution 528 (“Res 528 WARC 92”).The South African Table of
Frequency Allocations (SATFA) confirms the allocation of the band 1452 -1492 MHz to
digital audio broadcasting and states in the foot note that “This band has been allocated
internationally for use for digital broadcasting (S-DAB and T-DAB).”
Due to the fact that satellite radio experiences dead spots (satellite shadows) and
multipart interference in metropolitan areas in between skyscrapers, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules allowing for the licensing of
17
complementary terrestrial repeaters operating in the same frequency band to resolve the
problem. The receiver switches automatically from satellite to terrestrial repeater without
any interruption in service. The WG suggests that when ICASA licenses satellite sound
broadcasting services they must plan and assign terrestrial frequencies for
complementary terrestrial repeaters.
2.2.3
Internet Radio and Mobile Radio
Internet Radio is a broadcasting service, which is transmitted via the Internet using
streaming technology based on any number of audio compression standards and media
players. Internet Radio can be the re-broadcast of a licensed terrestrial radio station, but
many internet radio stations are independent of traditional terrestrial radio stations and
only exist on the Internet. As the service is streamed over the internet it is possible to
access the stations from anywhere in the world. Internet users tend to find internet
stations by going to online radio networks, such as Live 365 or SHOUTcast which list
thousands of Internet Radio stations covering a variety of music genres. The Internet
Model means that it is not really possible to regulate Internet Radio at a national or local
level and regulators in most overseas jurisdictions tend to exempt Internet Radio from
licensing regimes. In contrast, Mobile Radio is a new sound broadcasting service that
has become possible due to convergence, where the content is broadcast or streamed
not to traditional radio sets but to mobile phones or other portable devices. As this
service is linked to national, regional or local networks, it is capable of being regulated in
the same manner as traditional broadcasting services. It utilises the same three main
radio technology families for delivering broadcast content to mobile phones or devices,
as were identified for digital mobile television
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Based on the above discussion on digital broadcasting standards, the WG makes the
following technical recommendations, namely that:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Based on decisions taken at the ITU Regional Radiocommunication Conference
2006 (RRC-06), the DVB family of standards should be adopted in South Africa
for digital television broadcasting.
The principle of technology neutrality in regulation prevails and mobile
broadcasting services must be introduced on any platform using any mobile
digital broadcasting standard.
In the digital switchover process, provision should be made for the introduction of
at least one DVB-H mobile broadcasting service on the frequencies planned at
RRC-06 for metropolitan digital transmission networks in South Africa.
The Eureka 147 (ETSI EN 300 401) and Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) (ETSI ES
201 980) standard be adopted as complementary standards for digital sound
broadcasting in South Africa.
The temporary allocation for T-DAB in 238.432-239.968 MHz in the current
National Table of Allocations must be made permanent and licensed without
further delay to allow for the introduction of a multi-channel Digital Sound
Broadcasting Service in South Africa;
As there is currently no global standard for digital satellite sound broadcasting,
market forces should be allowed to dictate the take up of digital satellite sound
broadcasting in South Africa; and
When ICASA licenses satellite sound broadcasting services the regulator must
plan and assign terrestrial frequencies for complementary terrestrial repeaters.
18
2.3.
STANDARDS, FORMATS AND APPLICATIONS RELATED TO DIGITAL
BROADCASTING
2.3.1
Image Quality and Digital TV Formats
Standard TV signals are made up of 625 lines of resolution, Digital Versatile Disks
(DVDs) are digitally made movies, which means are of a better visual quality than
movies broadcast on standard TV. HDTV allows for even better resolution.
RESOLUTION COMPARISON13
There are 18 "standard" digital television formats. Each one provides a different picture
quality. The 18 standards fall into 4 broad categories:
• 480i - (square-screen only) digital version of the best current television signals;
• 480p - (square or widescreen) also known as "standard definition"- has the same
detail as today's television signal but looks sharper;.
• 720p - (widescreen only) this HDTV format provides an image just about as good
as 1080i, while allowing other 480p signals to be broadcast at the same time;
and
• 1080i - (widescreen only) the HDTV format that allows the most detailed image
available from broadcast TV.
The number refers to the number of lines of vertical resolution. The letter refers to the
way the TV makes the picture, either Progressive (p) or Interlaced (i). Because a "p"
image looks sharper than an "i" image, the number of lines of resolution can be reduced
and still result in a good-looking image. So a 720p image looks just as good as a 1080i
image. At these resolutions, image clarity is more a result of the quality of the film the
program was shot on, and the quality of the transfer to video, rather than the resolution it
is transmitted in.
The standards falling under the 480i and 480p format categories are referred to as
SDTV. The WG would suggest the use of the 480p for SDTV as it allows for sharper
image quality and can accommodate both 4:3 and 16:9 ratios. The main HDTV
standards, as mentioned above, are 720p, 1080i and 1080p.
13 These images are not actual TV images, since you can't truly demonstrate different resolutions on paper. They are accurately rendered approximations
designed to demonstrate the real difference between the video formats.
Source: http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=709431 (Used in this
document with the permission of webmaster)
19
Another aspect to standards that needs to be considered is the compression standard
used. Obviously, the higher the definition or resolution, the higher the data rate required
to transmit the picture for real time video. Therefore, the higher the efficiency of the
compression system, the lower the bandwidth required for transmission of the signal.
For this reason, only MPEG4 Part 10 should be considered for HDTV transmission
(emission).
The 1080p standard will deliver the highest quality video, but is not yet a viable option for
broadcasting. Most HDTV displays (plasma displays) require progressive scanning and
convert interlaced formats to progressive prior to display. Progressive scanning is
therefore the preferred standard. The choice is therefore between 720p/50 and 1080i/25.
The 1080i system offers more than twice (1920X1080 = 2.07 million pixels) the number
of pixels of the 720p system (1280X720=0,92 million pixels). The WG holds the view
that South Africa should therefore adopt the 720p standard now, with a view of moving
to 1080p as the technology improves (See Annexure D – Technical Report for a more
detailed analysis).
Based on current compression standards it would not be advisable to implement HDTV
terrestrially during the digital switchover, as one HDTV channel would significantly
reduce the number of channels that could be accommodated on a single frequency. It
would therefore not be wise to roll out HDTV terrestrially initially, but to first wait for
spectrum to become free with the switch-off of analogue services. Any spectrum
planning exercise should keep in mind the spectrum requirements of future terrestrial
HDTV. In the mean time, HDTV could be rolled out on DTH or IPTV.
In Europe, an HD ready label scheme has been put in place to enable consumers to
identify equipment capable of providing an HD picture. The HD Ready label for TV sets
requires:
• the 16:9 “wide” screen format;
• a minimum resolution of 720 lines (and 1280 dots per line);
• compatibility with the two HD production and reception formats (1080i and 720p);
• dual analogue input (YUV, DVI and HDMI), to ensure compatibility with other
audio-visual equipment in the household (decoder, camcorder, player and
recorder).
In South Africa, the benefit of a labelling scheme would be to allow consumers to make
an informed choice when purchasing a TV set, with a view to being ready for when
HDTV broadcasts commence on digital broadcasting platforms.
RECOMMENDATION:
The WG makes the following technical recommendation, namely that South Africa
consider implementing a HD Certified labelling scheme and adopt the following minimum
standards for High Definition TV (HDTV):
•
MPEG4 Part 10 with AAC and Dolby AC3 support;
•
720p standard now, with a view of moving to 1080p; and
•
HDMI interface.
20
2.3.2
Aspect Ratios
The 16:9 aspect ratio has been adopted by the ITU (ITU-R BT.709) as part of the
specification for HDTV. This may be part of the reason why the two are often confused.
There are different ways of achieving widescreen content from actual filming to various
post-production processes; full capture in a widescreen format, squeezing wide frames
onto traditional film so the process can simply be reversed for display (anamorphic
widescreen), cropping and re-packaging video (pan and scan) etc. Display devices
usually have an algorithm for filling up a screen when the content is of a different aspect
ratio, e.g. letterboxing, pillar boxing, or a zoom function to crop the top and bottom or
sides. DTT in Standard Definition can be broadcast in both 16:9 and 4:3 as used in
analogue.
RECOMMENDATION:
The WG makes the following technical recommendation, namely that South Africa
consider including a 16:9 aspect ratio into any specification set for HDTV in South Africa.
2.3.3
Interactive Broadcasting and Return Path Channels
Interactive services are services that have no association typically to the video and
audio. These services are also streamed to the STB and stored in the STB memory also
using data channels within the DVB stream. The user can call up these services and
interact with them at an STB level. In contrast, advanced return path interactive services
are services downloaded to the STB, but interaction is via a return path from the STB
back to the host service provider, via imbedded GSM cards within the STB or internal /
external dial up modems or wireless broadband access connections.
There is the ability on digital platforms, assuming bandwidth availability, to provide nontraditional broadcast services like interactive advertisements, national and regional
information, live web pages, games, quizzes etc that are not associated with any service
or programme. These services typically are already operating on existing digital
broadcasting platforms in SA and around the world with varying degrees of success.
More advanced interactive services allow viewers to switch camera angles, video feeds,
etc. but require massive additional bandwidth.
It is increasingly being recognised that broadcasting will not be a one-way
communication service in future. ITU-R Study Group 6, which deals with broadcasting
services, describes broadcasting as follows:
“Broadcasting makes use of point-to-everywhere information delivery to widely
available consumer receivers. When return channel capacity is required (e.g. for
access control, interactivity, etc.), broadcasting typically uses an asymmetrical
distribution infrastructure that allows high capacity information delivery to the
public with lower capacity return link to the service provider. The production and
distribution of programs (vision, sound, multimedia, data, etc.) may employ
contribution circuits among studios, information gathering circuits (ENG, SNG,
etc.), primary distribution to delivery nodes, and secondary distribution to
consumers.”
21
There are numerous alternatives that can be deployed for the broadcasting return
channel, including:
• Telephone dial up
• Wireless broadband access connections
• Mobile cellular telephony
• Traditional terrestrial broadcast spectrum
• Satellite
In 2002 ETSI developed a standard (EN 301958) for an interaction channel (return
channel) for DVB-T. The standard specifies the channel coding/modulation and the
medium access control protocol. However, it only provides guidelines on spectrum.
Nevertheless, in the DVB-RCT system, the Forward Interaction path and the Return
Interactive path are implemented in the same radio frequency bands - i.e. VHF/UHF
Bands III, IV and V.
The DVB-T and DVB-RCT systems form a two-way system, which share the same
frequency bands. Thus it is possible to benefit from common features in regard to the RF
devices and parameters (antenna, combiner, propagation conditions, etc.) Nevertheless,
the Return Channel- Terrestrial (RCT) system is suited to work in other frequency bands
preferably adjacent to broadcasting.
The Return Interaction Channel can be located in any free segment of an RF channel,
taking in account existing national and regional analogue television assignments,
interference risks and future allocations for DVB-T without causing interference to
existing and planned broadcast services. The non-uniform distribution of energy in
analogue TV RF channels lends itself ideally to this approach.
In developing the standard, ETSI envisaged that specific spectrum allocations and
sharing rules would be agreed for DVB-RCT transmissions in the spectrum currently
assigned to broadcasting, during the ITU RRC process. However, at RRC-04 there was
opposition to the Conference addressing the issue of interactive broadcasting and a
statement was included in Chapter 5 of the RRC-04 Report, which states:
“5.1.3.3
Possible future developments
The new plans, to be adopted at the second session, will need to provide a
framework in which each country can continue to satisfy its own individual
requirements on an equitable access basis. The new plans must be sufficiently
forward-looking and sufficiently flexible to cover developments in digital
technology in future years.
In addition to video and audio signal distribution, digital terrestrial broadcasting
may serve as a data platform for innovative telecommunication applications (e.g.
e-health, e-government, e-learning) to effectively help to bridge the digital divide,
in particular in the developing world.”
No further debates were held regarding interactive broadcasting at RRC-04.
STB-related interactive services can be provided with digital broadcasting, provided that
the STB has sufficient memory and an operating system to support such services.
Interactive services using return paths such as telephone, GSM modem, broadband
connections could be implemented where feasible. However, inclusion of advanced
interactivity features in the basic STB, is not recommended.
22
RECOMMENDATION:
The WG recommends that interactive services that do not require a return path can be
implemented from the inception of digital terrestrial television, but interactive
Broadcasting Services using a return path requiring the use of broadcast frequency
spectrum are not recommended during the digital switchover phase. After analogue
switch-off when sufficient broadcast spectrum becomes available this type of return path
can be considered.
2.3.4
Electronic Programming Guide (EPG)
Enhanced services are services running in parallel to the video and audio streams. They
use data paths embedded in the DVB stream. The services may be onscreen or user
initiated via the STB to display the information, but the information pertains to, and is
associated with the video and or audio. The information is downloaded on the STB and
the interaction with the user is with the STB.
Typical examples of enhanced services include:
• Electronic programme information (EPI) is a basic user initiated call to the STB to
display a banner over the video with the current and possibly next up programme
title only. This requires integration of the head end supplier with the automation
systems of the channel service providers to keep this EPI current and accurate.
• Electronic programme guide (EPG) is a more advanced service enabling the
viewer to call up information of the current programme and a number of
programmes to follow, with additional information and synopsis of each of the
programmes. This requires more advanced integration with head end service
providers and channel service providers at automation payout level and business
enterprise scheduling and programme information systems.
• This EPG service can be further enhanced with look ahead of all programmes on
channels up to 7 days with more detailed synopsis of programmes and possible
search functions. Further, this requires more transport stream capacity.
• Partially sighted services provide additional audio, enhancing the impaired
viewing experience. This requires additional audio streams and complex
production facilities to produce these services.
2.3.5
Set-top Box (STB)
This section addresses the following additional technical decoder-related matters which
need to be considered, as these will have significant impact on the decisions on DTT
roll-out.
• Horizontal vs Vertical Model
• Choice of Operating System
• Conditional Access Options & Implications
• Compression Technology
• Minimum Decoder Specifications
23
(a)
Horizontal versus Vertical Market
The DTH decoder market in South Africa is vertically integrated. That is, each
operator controls the models of decoder which may be used on their platform.
This is not expected to be the case for DTT. Most of the successful DTT roll-outs
have been based on Free to Air (FTA) services. For this reason the decoder
market could not be controlled. The ability for a decoder to receive services from
different platforms and service providers is known as a horizontally integrated
market. In an attempt to facilitate a horizontally integrated market, DVB
developed a specification for a standard decoder middleware known as MHP
(Multi-media Home Platform). It is also envisaged that different levels of DTT
decoders will be available in the market, from entry-level “minimum” decoder to
perhaps Personal Video Recorders (PVRs). ().
(b)
Operating System
There is no clear distinction between operating system (OS), API (Application
Programme Interface) and middleware. Here the term middleware is taken to
mean OS and API. The middleware provides a high level interface to the low
level decoder functions such as display drivers and remote control functions.
The middleware also takes care of the low level decoder management such as
menu navigation and programme guide. The middleware provides a standard
interface for application development, which allows an application to run on
different hardware platforms using the same middleware. Through applications,
the middleware allows decoder interactivity (see Figure 1).
FIGURE 1: STB SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE
Navigation, User
Interface, EPG.
Downloaded
Applications
Application Layer
API
Run Time Engines
And
Virtual Machines
Java
Open TV
MHEG5
MediaHighway
Flash
MHP
Middleware
Operating System
API
RTOS and drivers
CA Kernel
Low Level Driver
APIs
Decoder Software Architecture
24
A number of different middleware systems are available. Some decoder
manufacturers develop their own middleware. This is generally low cost as no
royalties or licensing is required. This middleware is generally not intended for
application development. It merely provides basic decoder functionality. There
are two main proprietary middleware systems commonly in use. These are Open
TV and MediaHighway. These are proprietary and attract high royalties and
licensing fees. There are two non-proprietary systems available. These are
MHEG5 and MHP. MHEG5 (Multimedia and Hypermedia Experts Group) is an
internationally standardised language for multimedia and hypermedia objects.
This is more like a virtual machine than an operating system. It is used for
support of multimedia in the UK on DTT (Digital Terrestrial TV). MHP
(Multimedia Home Platform) is a standardised middleware defined by DVB
(Digital Video Broadcasting – a European Standards Group). MHP was defined
by DVB to be an open solution to allow multiple service providers to operate
through a single compatible receiver at the home. This was an attempt to
facilitate a cost effective horizontal market. The large memory footprint required
to support MHP on a decoder resulted in a relatively high cost decoder. This has
less of an impact today due to the lower cost of memory. Many European
countries are now mandating the adoption of MHP for decoder middleware.
A middleware system is required if enhanced programming is to be provided.
Currently in South Africa for DTH, both platforms use OpenTV. This has stringent
licensing conditions. MHP standardises the operating system, allowing any
operator to “plug in” its own applications to any STB that is MHP compliant. This,
in turn, offers the end-user the flexibility to receive content offerings from one or
more content publishers without the need to acquire a new STB. It also gives
end-users the flexibility to change content publishers at minimal cost.
(c)
Conditional Access
Conditional access systems could be considered to be “plug-in software”
applications sitting on top of the operating system. Satellite and cable services
traditionally have mainly been used for commercial services and hence one
would typically find various advanced conditional access systems supporting
various TV channels. Until now it has not been critical that the encryption
systems used for satellite DTH (Direct to Home) services, be of a common
standard or offering common interface. In fact commercial companies regarded
this as a strategic edge to be able to run its own encryption system.
Conditional access is considered to be a commercially competitive issue and,
consequently it is the view of the WG that this should remain an unregulated
activity. There are currently 2 proprietary CA systems in use in South Africa for
digital satellite broadcasting. Sentech uses the NagraVision system whilst
MultiChoice uses IRDETO. In the short to medium term, both these systems
should be allowed to continue in South Africa in the satellite DTH environment.
Digital broadcasting systems can be operated in three basic modes viz. FTAFTA,
free-access and fully encrypted:
• FTA services do not cater for any encryption system and typically any
STB that complies with the DVB-T standard should be able to receive the
signal. The advantage of such a system is that STB’s are extremely
cheap and it will reduce the barrier to entry when STB’s are to be funded
or subsidised. The disadvantage is that one has no control over the
viewer base, will not know exactly how many viewers are watching off the
DTT platform and it only offers limited value added services. No software
25
control or managing of the decoder will be possible.
No value-add
applications can be provided on the decoder, and no over the air
upgrades will be possible. . In order to ensure that the market is not
flooded with low quality equipment, it is proposed that STB’s should be
subject to some form of quality control to ensure that a reasonable quality
of STB is ensured. A minimum standard for the equipment will have to be
set. It is suggested that this could be done through Standards South
Africa, the standards-generating arm of the South African Bureau of
Standards (SABS). 14 This would make sense as SABS already publishes
national standards which it prepares through a consensus process in
technical committees (made up of a variety of stakeholders).
•
Free-access systems use more advanced STB’s which provide the option
of implementing conditional access. The basis of this option is that
viewers will have to acquire a STB as well as a smart card (or decoders
with embedded CA) to be able to watch the programmes. Apart from a
normal TV licence fee, no additional monthly cost will be required.
Although more expensive initially, this option offers broadcasters full
control over their viewers as well as the introduction of advanced value
added services. It will be possible for example to control TV license fees
paid or institute pay-per-view services, with the necessary supporting
infrastructure. The activation of embedded CA in order to deliver a free
access system would necessitate that that there be call centre
established for all the STBs in the market and that consideration be given
to who will cover the cost of regularly updating the CA for the purposes of
ensuring that security is not compromised. In addition, this step would
require that royalties be paid for the use of the proprietary CA, and if the
principle that no additional cost is imposed on the consumer is applied,
then it would have to be covered in the operating budget of broadcasters
on an annual basis.
•
Fully encrypted services can be used to ensure monthly payments for
programmes viewed etc. This model is based purely on commercial
principles and full control of subscribers is essential. Once one provides
full encryption services on a DTT platform, the same platform can be
used for free-access as well as FTA services. Activation of CA for fully
encrypted services would require the same support infrastructure as in
free access systems with the addition of subscriber management
systems.
The cost of the STB poses the most critical barrier to entry in terms of getting the
viewers to accept a digital switchover process. The entry level STB has to be as
cheap as possible, However, it is also necessary to ensure that more
sophisticated STBs are available which are flexible enough to provide value
added services.
14 SABS is a statutory body that was established in terms of the Standards Act, 1945 (Act No. 24 of 1945) and continues to operate in terms of the latest
edition of the Standards Act, 1993 (Act No. 29 of 1993) as the national institution for the promotion and maintenance of standardization and quality in
connection with commodities and the rendering of services
26
POSITION:
The WG did not reach agreement on whether CA should be embedded on the
basic STB which would be subsidised by government. It was decided that each
WG member could indicate what the minimum specification for the subsidised
STB should be in an Appendix to the Report (please refer to individual WG
members views which have been attached in Appendix C).
RECOMMENDATION:
The WG did agree, to recommend that broadcasting service licensees should be
allowed to roll out the CA system of their choice in more advanced STBs that can
be offered in the market.
(d)
Compression Standard
New large-scale DTT (DVB-T) installations world-wide will in future support
MPEG-4. Starting a new roll-out on MPEG-2, will immediately result in a legacy
system, requiring a costly upgrade to MPEG-4, sooner rather than later. MPEG4 decoders are becoming rapidly available, and although there will initially be a
price penalty for MPEG-2 vs MPEG-4, the large anticipated world-wide roll-out of
MPEG-4 will soon see prices below that of the current MPEG-2.
(e)
Minimum STB specifications
If South Africa is to follow the route of a horizontal decoder market then it will be
necessary to define some form of minimum decoder specification for the entry level
STB to ensure technical compatibility. Presumably some process for conformance
testing and certification will also be required. This function is best performed by some
independent industry body. In the UK this function is performed by the “Digital TV
Group”. In particular DTG Testing Ltd., performs the following functions:
• Over the Air Upgrades
• Test Materials
• Application Testing
• Product Conformance testing
A question that faced the WG was whether the minimum STB specification
needed to make provision for e-government. Electronic government or eGovernment refers to government’s use of information and communication
technology (ICT) to exchange information and services with citizens, businesses
and other arms of government.
In South Africa, the e-government policy concluded that it must address at least
three major issues:
• e-governance – application of IT to intra-governmental operations;
• e-services – application of IT to transform the delivery of public services. The
services affected include general information and regulations, education and
culture, health consulting and tele-medicien, benefits, taxation etc.; and
• e-business – the application if IT to operations performed by government in the
manner of business-to-business transactions and other contractual relations.
27
Linking digital broadcasting and e-services will result in improved service delivery
and the achievement of Batho Pele objectives for offering equal access to
government services and more and better information. The information society has
much untapped potential as identified in NEPAD objectives to improve productivity
and the quality of life of citizens. The ability of digital television to offer interactive
services or pseudo-interactivity would benefit e-government and allow for new
services, applications and content that will create new markets and provide the
means to increase productivity and hence growth and employment throughout the
economy. It will also provide citizens who do not have access to computers and the
internet with a convenient access point to information and communication tools in the
household that may substitute or complement services available on other platforms.
In order to achieve this and not promote a further digital divide in the arena of digital
broadcasting when it is introduced, interactive television would require adding to the
basic requirements for the reception of DTT a minimum requirement for open
middleware standard. Where governments have mandated interactivity the standard
selected has been the Multimedia Home Platform (DVB-MHP) which is an open
middleware system standard designed by the DVB Project for interactive digital
television. The MHP standard enables the reception and execution of interactive
Java-based applications on a TV set. Applications can be delivered over the
broadcast channels, together with audio and video streams.15
The inclusion of MHP in the selection of the basic STB or idTV (digital tuner)
standard would significantly increase the cost of the digital switchover, however
unlike the inclusion of embedded CAS which has been opposed by a FTA
broadcaster, the subsidy of STBs with MHP capability can be justified on the grounds
of e-government and enabling access to government information by the public on
other platforms.16 The inclusion of MHP as a middleware standard for STBs will raise
the cost by a much as $16-20 for a once-off licensing fee. There are other
alternatives to achieve the same result, Altech UEC, which is a South African
manufacturer of STBs, for example bundles their basic MPEG 4 STB with Cheetah, a
proprietary middleware solution, currently for free.
POSITION:
The WG are of the view that the decision to mandate an interoperable open
middleware standard for the basic STB to promote e-governance and interactive
television for all, is a government decision and the WG has not taken a specific
stance or recommendation on this. Table 1 below, provides illustrative costs for a
range of STBs that can be considered when setting a minimum specification.
15 This would not negatively impact on the introduction of Digital Television sets with integrated digital tuners, as MHP has been mandated in some
markets resulting in MHP Integrated Digital TV sets being available that support interactive services such as text information services, weather maps,
games, e-mail, etc.
16 It is also worth noting that conditional access (CA) is not required for interactivity or e-government services as it related primarily to the
provision/security of exclusive audio or video content.
28