Opinion no. 2015-20 of Nov. 4, 2015 on the draft decree amending the French Post and Electronic Communications Code relating to the release of the second digital dividend and the deployment of mobile services in the 694-790 MHz band.

In a letter received on October 19, 2015, the French Superior Audiovisual Council was asked by the Ministry of the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs to give its opinion on a draft decree amending the French Post and Electronic Communications Code relating to the release of the second digital dividend and the deployment of mobile services in the 694-790 MHz band, known as the "700 MHz band".

After deliberating on November 4, 2015, the Board issued a favorable opinion with the following reservations.

It recalls, as it has already done on several occasions, notably in its opinion n°2015-30 of September 30, 2015 on the draft amendment to the decree of December 24, 2001 on digital terrestrial television setting the characteristics of transmitted signals, that the very close deadline of April 5, 2016 imposes strong constraints on digital terrestrial television (DTT) players without a prior exhaustive study of operations, related risks or their cumulation.

To free up the 700 MHz band, and before streaming it to mobile operators, a number of technical operations are required. On the one hand, MPEG-2 norms need to be discontinued, and MPEG-4 compression technology generalized on the DTT platform in mainland France. On the other hand, two national multiplexes need to be discontinued; publishers and broadcasters will therefore be demanded to switch off some of their equipment, some of which has recently been deployed throughout the country. These two operations will be accompanied by a recomposition of all the multiplexes, enabling in particular channels whose multiplex has been shut down to find a place on the DTT platform.

In a press release dated September 15, 2015, the French senate's Commission de la culture, de l'éducation et de la communication indicated that "the conclusions of the Inspectorate-General of Finance (IGF) report communicated to the rapporteurs of the two assemblies recognizing the existence of prejudice on the part of the technical broadcasting operators, the Government has announced its intention to seek a transactional solution with the companies concerned in the coming weeks, with the cost of these agreements intended to be included in the 2016 Finance Act." Once again, as it did in its aforementioned opinion of September 30, 2015, the Conseil reiterates that it is indeed essential that a solution be found as soon as possible with all parties for whom a prejudice has been identified, so that the migration to the MPEG-4 standard scheduled for April 5, 2016, as well as the other operations programmed for that date (notably frequency rearrangements in the Ile-de-France region) can take place under the best possible conditions. In this respect, the Board notes that the Commission de Modernisation de la Diffusion Audiovisuel (CMDA) will continue to monitor this issue closely. Similarly, the Conseil remains particularly concerned and vigilant about the progress of these negotiations between the Government and the technical diffusion operators.

1° - On the inclusion of costs borne by audiovisuel service editors, multiplex operators or broadcasting operators

The draft decree explicitly excludes costs relating to changes in broadcasting norms and coding, changes in the format of the television services concerned, and consolidation on one or more radio resources of publishers of audiovisual communication services.

However, the frequency rearrangements required to free up the 700 MHz band can only be carried out if the video coding norms of a majority of the television services shown on the platform are changed, and if these services are grouped together in six multiplexes instead of eight. At least partial coverage of the costs incurred by these operations should be envisaged, as well as compensation for broadcasting operators for the early shutdown of these two multiplexes.

2° - Financial support for local authorities

Several hundred local authorities operate DTT transmitters within the meaning of article 30-3 of the law of September 30, 1986. Like multiplex publishers and operators, they will have to bear the direct costs of redevelopment and adaptation to the new composition of the multiplexes, and even to the video and audio coding schemes adopted to enable the changes in compression norms required to free up the 700 MHz band. In this respect, we need to ensure that they receive the financial support they need to acquire the equipment they need to carry out all these technical operations.

In addition, the investments made by these local authorities in equipment enabling them to provide DTT supplies to their constituents will be depreciated as soon as two of the multiplexes previously shown are no longer broadcast.

3° - On the cumulative risks associated with the various operations scheduled for the night of April 4 to 5, 2016

The various decrees or draft decrees governing the operations on April 5, 2016 make provision for three separate operations:

• an operation to change video coding and recompose multiplexes ;
• a first phase of clearing the 700 MHz band, and therefore frequency rearrangements in an area that essentially includes the Ile-de-France region;
• completion of R7 multiplex deployment in the Rhône-Alpes region.

These operations must be carried out in a precise order, as the success of the coding change and recomposition is a prerequisite for the start of the rearrangements and rollouts.

Over the course of the night, a large number of experts will be mobilized to modify over one hundred and thirty national and regional headends for the switchover to all-MPEG-4, and to recompose channels on six multiplexes. Once the rearrangement operations have begun, this recomposition will be irreversible, since the six multiplexes will then reuse frequencies previously allocated to the two multiplexes that will have been switched off.

We therefore need to ensure that the video coding change and multiplex recomposition are highly reliable, before starting the redevelopment. This high level of security entails additional costs, which need to be taken into account so that operations on the radioelectric resource can be started during the night, in the immediate aftermath of operations linked to the change of norms and the shutdown of two multiplexes. The Conseil also underlines the extreme difficulty of completing the entire project in a single night, both in terms of compliance with labor laws and in a difficult social context for those involved.

A less costly and less risky alternative would be to separate these operations by ensuring, during the first night, that the recomposition and coding change are successful, before launching, during another night, the rearrangements enabling the 700 MHz band to be cleared.

This notice will be published in the Journal officiel de la République française.

Paris, November 4, 2015.
For the French Superior Audiovisual Council :
Le président,
O. Schrameck