5th August 2007

Commenting on the additional channels Minister Killeen said; “I am delighted to announce that Setanta Ireland and Setanta Golf are now available to participants in the Department’s DTT Pilot. These new additions mean that we now have a total of 29 channels providing an extensive range of diverse content to participants, all of which is invaluable in helping us to prepare for the upcoming nationwide rollout of digital terrestrial services.”

The DTT trial has been running in Dublin and Louth since August 2006 and is due to end in August 2008. A total of 16 TV channels, 12 radio channels and 1 High Definition TV channel, showing a continuous loop of HDTV content, are available on the pilot. The aim of the trial is to identify any issues that might arise when we make the transition from an analogue terrestrial to a digital terrestrial television platform.

“The EU has requested that all Member States complete this transition from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting by 2012. However I believe that Ireland must move much quicker than that. I expect the development of a national public service and commercial deployment of digital terrestrial TV services in mid 2008, to ensure that Ireland doesn’t get left behind in the coming broadcasting revolution,” conclude Minister Killeen.