New European Breed of Interactive Technology Could Compete with U.S. Digital Broadcasts

by Alan Sheckter, Smart TV & Sound news editor

Digital terrestrial multiplex broadcasters, new European interactive service providers that rely on a combined digital broadcast and telephone service solution, could undercut U.S. cable and satellite competition.

Britain’s ONdigital and Spain’s QuieroTV are currently challenging local cable by providing upwards of 30 interactive-equipped channels through a common TV antenna, according to Interactive Week magazine. The companies combine their digital broadcasts with high-speed Internet-capable telephone service. ONdigital, which charges about $15 per month for 30 to 40 channels that include some premium movie and sports broadcasts, hopes to sign up 2 million subscribers by the end of next year.

One of the main differences between how these new companies and the U.S. approach interactive TV is bandwidth. While the U.S. gravitates toward HDTV high-bandwidth demands, the European companies use the bandwidth to deliver multiple channels. Without concern for the ultra-sharp HDTV picture, one digital transmitter can carry several channels at once. In that way, a European company can offer five or six premium channels into a single pay-TV package.

In this low-cost solution, multichannel data and programming signals are sent to local TV antennas via a digital broadcast spectrum. The user’s inexpensive set-top box, often provided free, translates the signal to the TV, and can be made interactive with the user’s remote or keyboard.