Lower Normandy goes digital March 9

[khurramdar]

Lower Normandy goes digital March 9

By Robert Briel
February 28, 2010 12.42 UK

Lower Normandy will be the second region of France to switch to all digital, when all analogue terrestrial television transmitters will sign off on March 9.

In the region, about 600,000 households have a television set, 90% have cable or satellite and are not affected. The remaining 60,000 households must make the transition to all digital if they haven’t already done so.

Technical assistance is offered to individuals over the age of 70 who wish guidance with the switch-over process. A number of students have been specially trained for this. The operation is free for the elderly who request assistance.

Just a few weeks ago, analogue switch-off took place in the Alsace region, which resulted in few problems. There was some criticism that the operation took place in the middle of winter when a lot of people were snowbound.

Also, there were reports that some old DVB-T receivers could not properly tune in to all the DVB-T channels. According to consumer organisation Que Choisir, across France between 300,000 and half a million tuners could be involved. However, the manufacturers insist this is not the case.