New digital terrestrial, what are the costs to be incurred

To continue to watch digital terrestrial, many Italians will have to buy a new device: here's how much will be spent on average

Two years: this is how long the transition phase from DVB-T1 to the new digital terrestrial 2.0 will last. From January 13, 2020, work began on the first phase of migration that will free up the 700MHz band, the one that will be used by telephone operators for 5G. In 2021, however, will begin work for the switch-off from digital terrestrial 1.0 to the new signal that will allow the vision of a richer TV and with a better image quality.

All this, however, has a cost for users. The new digital terrestrial signal, DVB-T2, and the coding codec used (HEVC) are not supported by all TV sets. According to a survey carried out by Codacons, there are about 10 million TV sets that will be obsolete on 30th June 2022, the day in which the change of signal will take place. Televisions that will have to be replaced or "updated" through the purchase of a new ad hoc decoder. An expense for many Italian families that can vary from a few tens of euros (if you opt to buy the decoder) up to several hundred euros (if you decide to change TV). Here is how much the new digital terrestrial television will cost each family on average.

Digitale terrestre DVB - T2, how much Italian families will spend

The new digital terrestrial television is certainly an opportunity for television broadcasters who will be able to use new services and improve their offer, but for Italian citizens it can turn into a high expense. Those who do not have a television set that supports the new digital terrestrial signal will be forced to change their set or buy a decoder.

The Codacons has published a study and has estimated an expense of 30 to 250 euros for each family. This is logically a forecast and the cost can also be higher. It all depends on what you decide to buy: in the list of TVs and decoders compatible with DVB T-2 there are devices for all budgets.

Furthermore, it must be remembered that the Ministry of Economic Development has launched the Bonus TV, a 151 million euro fund for the coming years (25 million for 2019, 76 million for 2020, 25 million for 2021, 25 million for 2022) that will help low-income families in the purchase of a new TV or decoder. Il Bonus TV prevede uno sconto massimo di 50 euro in fase di acquisto: possono farne richiesta tutte le famiglie nella fascia ISEE 1 e ISEE 2.

Nuovo digitale terrestre: le date da segnare sul calendario

Un processo lungo e inesorabile quello che porterà milioni di italiani a fare la conoscenza del DVB – T2, il digitale terrestre 2.0 che renderà più ricco il palinsesto con contenuti migliori. Ecco le date da conoscere per programmare l’acquisto di un nuovo TV o di un nuovo decoder.

  • 1 settembre 2021 – 31 dicembre 2021
    Area 2 – Valle d’Aosta, Piemonte, Lombardia tranne la provincia di Mantova, provincia di Piacenza, provincia di Trento, provincia di Bolzano;
    Area 3 – Veneto, provincia di Mantova, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Emilia Romagna tranne la provincia di Piacenza
  • 1 gennaio 2022 – 31 marzo 2022
    Area 1 – Liguria, Toscana, Umbria, Lazio, Campania, Sardegna
  • 1 aprile 2022 – 20 giugno 2022
    Area 4 – Sicilia, Calabria, Puglia, Basilicata; Abruzzo, Molise, Marche.

Dopo il 30 giugno 2022 il digitale terrestre di prima generazione non funzionerà più e tutte le emittenti televisive dovranno trasmettere solamente sulle frequenze dedicate al DVB-T2.