An introduction strategy for digital terrestrial television based on single frequency networks: the Spanish approach

This paper describes the prospects of the introduction of digital terrestrial broadcasting in Spain according to the market needs and taking into account a certain window of opportunity. It analyses the importance of offering the terrestrial viewers sufficient programs which could reach a high percentage of coverage, in order to compete successfully with other TV distribution media. Such an approach is examined under the spectrum scarcity conditions currently existing in Spain, and under the hypothesis of having a few new channels at the top of the UHF bands for digital terrestrial broadcasting. Under such conditions the convenience of utilising single frequency networks (SFNs) for the terrestrial network implementation in the options of the national or regional dimension, and the subsequent need of using the 8K option of the DVB-T specification to match the requirements of the Spanish terrestrial network are examined.