Television in Croatia - DVB-T Television

DVB-T Television

The first trial broadcasts of DVB-T signals began in May 2002 in Zagreb, and in 2008 the government developed an Analogue to Digital Television Broadcasting Switchover Strategy for the Republic of Croatia. In July 2008, this Government of Croatia announced that 106 million kuna (c. 14.1 million euros) were earmarked for the purpose. The government-subsidized purchase of DVB-T receivers, distributing discount coupons worth 75 kuna (c. 10 euros) to subscribers of the Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT). The first two multiplexes (MUX A and MUX B) were introduced in April 2009, with the third (MUX D) introduced in July 2010. On 5 October 2010 the switch to DVB-T was virtually complete, as all major analog TV transmitters were phased out. The DVB-T transmissions in Croatia are all standard-definition, MPEG-2. MUX A is available to more than 98.5 percent of the population of Croatia, and both MUX A and MUX B are available to more than 95 percent of population in each multiplex-allotment region. MUX D is available to approximately 90 percent of the population of Croatia, and at least 70 percent of the population in each of the allotment regions. There are 897,496 households (60.7 percent) in Croatia receiving DVB-T television only. The terrestrial television infrastructure in Croatia is operated by Odašiljači i veze d.o.o. (OIV). The company was established as an independent entity in 2002, when a division developing and maintaining electronic communications infrastructure was removed from the HRT corporate system. As of January 2012, OIV operates and maintains 222 television transmitters and broadcast relay stations.

There are nine main regions of digital TV allotments (encompassing larger portions of Croatia) and additional, geographically small allotment areas designed for local broadcasters (typically covering a single city). The main DVB-T television allotment regions are assigned markings D1–D9. The D1 region encompasses Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Syrmia counties, as well as parts of Brod-Posavina County east of Oprisavci. The D2 region covers the rest of Brod-Posavina County, Požega-Slavonia and Virovitica-Podravina counties and nearly all of Bjelovar-Bilogora County, except for an area north of the city of Bjelovar and part of Sisak-Moslavina County around the town of Novska. The D3 region includes a part of Bjelovar-Bilogora County not encompassed by the D2 region, as well as the territories of Koprivnica-Križevci, Varaždin and Međimurje counties. The D4 region includes Sisak-Moslavina County (except the area around Novska), Krapina-Zagorje and Zagreb counties, the city of Zagreb and the northern part of Karlovac County (including Karlovac and Duga Resa).

The D5 region covers Istria County and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (except parts of the county east of Ravna Gora and the area around Novalja on the island of Pag), but it includes the coastal areas of Lika-Senj County opposite the islands of Krk and Rab. The D6 region encompasses parts of Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Lika-Senj counties outside the D4 and D5 regions, except for parts of the latter (south of Lovinac) and coastal parts of the same county opposite the island of Pag. Those two areas are a part of the D7 region, along with Zadar and Šibenik-Knin counties. The D8 region includes the entire Split-Dalmatia County as well as parts of Dubrovnik-Neretva County around Ploče and Metković, a part of Pelješac peninsula west of Dubrava and the islands of Korčula and Lastovo. The D9 region encompasses the rest of Dubrovnik-Neretva County.

There are also 12 local DVB-T television allotment regions, covering specific cities and their immediate surroundings. Those are d11 in Osijek, d21 in Slavonski Brod, d31 covering Varaždin and Čakovec, d44 encompassing Zagreb and Velika Gorica, d45 in Jastrebarsko, d46 covering Karlovac and Duga Resa, d53 encompassing Rijeka, Crikvenica, Novi Vinodolski and most of the island of Krk, d54 in Pula and Rovinj, d71 in Zadar, d72 in Šibenik, d82 covering Split, Trogir, Omiš, the island of Šolta and a large part of the island of Brač, and d91 in Dubrovnik.

When Italian DVB-T broadcasting started in December 2010 interference was observed in northwest parts of Istria, and later in areas around Zadar and Šibenik. The interference was caused by the use of frequencies assigned to Croatia by Italian transmitters and excessive transmitter power. A complaint was filed by the Croatian regulator of the DVB-T market, the Croatian Post and Electronic Communications Agency (HAKOM), with the Italian authorities. OIV installed additional transmitters in the affected areas to strengthen its signal coverage and reduce interference by February 2011 at a cost of 1 million kuna (c. 133,000 euros). Although Italian Minister of Economic Development Paolo Romani announced in August 2011 that the problems should be resolved shortly (a transmitter causing interference was shut down and the power of several others was reduced), the situation was not completely resolved throughout 2011 and the International Telecommunication Union's Radio Regulations Board became involved in the process. In the meantime, other technical solutions were devised and implemented (in addition to the emergency transmitters) in order to improve digital-television-signal reception.