Digital television comes to Canada

Photo by brizzle born and bred on Flickr

If you watch television, you've likely seen those public services announcements (or lightly disguised commercials, in some cases) explaining that over-the-air (OTA) television transmissions in 30 Canadian cities will convert from analog to digital on September 1st. So, if you use rabbit ears, you can expect to see only static on the screen from that date onward.

Around the world, digital television is currently being celebrated as a way of providing more free television of better picture and sound quality. According to Cathy Edwards of the Canadian Association of Community TV Users and Stations (CACTUS), "Digital TV is being welcomed around the world as a way of improving picture quality and providing more, not less, free TV." Americans, for example, were switched to digital TV in 2009 with a pleasant surprise for many – more free channels.

So what is the digital transition? The CRTC, Canada's media regulator, has mandated that broadcasters in 32 Canadian communities must shut down their analog transmitters as part of a worldwide transition to digital OTA TV. Over the next several years, another 60 cities and towns will also see their transmitters upgraded, bringing the grand total to 92 communities. While these communities and surrounding areas stand to lose more freely accessible analog TV -- especially as broadcasters are only expected to replace about one-tenth of their transmitters -- they have a lot to gain if the correct measures are taken.

Because a digital transmitter can carry several channels on a single frequency, broadcasters could share resources for a fraction of what it costs to maintain individual analog transmitters (this is known as 'multiplexing'). Canada's communications companies have no financial excuse to exclude rural communities, or prevent ordinary Canadians from having a voice within the broadcasting system, by pulling down broadcasting towers. As Edwards says, "digital transmitters can be used to multiplex TV, radio, wireless Internet and cell phone service from the same towers, for a fraction of the price that these services used to cost separately."

So big telecom companies in Canada are using digital TV as just one more way to siphon money out of the pockets of Canadians. By taking advantage of the public's general lack of understanding of how telecommunications infrastructure works, Big Telecom is once again misleading -- and seeking to price-gouge -- Canadians. This approach is all-too-familiar for those of us who were involved in the fight against Internet metering (usage-based billing) earlier this year.

Digital services could be of great benefit to Canadian communities, both by improving quality and reducing costs, yet the way they are being implemented stands to disadvantage the very communities they are supposed to serve. CACTUS proposes a way for communities to step back in and reclaim control of their communication systems. One way this can happen is through the establishment of local rebroadcasting systems, which can be used to distribute local radio and television content.

With the information that public interest organizations like CACTUS have to offer, communities can take advantage of this digital transition and use it to promote and distribute local content. Perhaps all communities can see the digital transition as an opportunity to intervene in the regulatory system, and reclaim some control over their communication, because it's clear that leaving this in the hands of corporations has and will continue to be useless.

Learn more:
http://cactus.independentmedia.ca/node/437
http://digitaltv.gc.ca/
http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/dtv/