From Media Online http://www.mediaonline.ba/mediaupite/clanak.html?sifra=4082

Bosnia and Herzegovina

CONVERGENCE AND THE DIGITAL DIVIDE: A ROADMAP FOR BIH AND SEE

David C. Betts

Key goals of the EC 1999 Telecoms Review involve adaptation of policies to meet the needs of communication industries in the Internet age. Particular emphasis is given to boosting competition in local access networks to stimulate cheaper services, ensuring high-speed Internet access for many people and offering high levels of user rights and protection: "Until recently, the communications industry was characterised by separate sectors specialised in the provision of distinct services: voice telephony, data transmission and broadcasting. Each of these services was delivered over a determined network. And the user accessed it via a given terminal: the telephone, the computer or the TV set.  Digital technologies have changed all that. Today, any service can be offered over any network, and be accessed via any terminal. Why? Because the phone call we make, the data we receive on our computer, or the picture we see on TV can all be converted into the same digitised format: a string of 0s and 1s." ( Commissioner Liikanen, Sarajevo, 16 July 2001)

The ultimate objective therefore is eEurope or information society for all. It will mean cheaper, faster and secure Internet, investment in people and skills, and acceleration of electronic commerce. The question is whether there is a local differentiator which could give Bosnia and Herzegovina and South East Europe in general over the rest of Europe. 

Current situation: Fixed Telecomms and the Internet

There are 3 telecom operators in Bosnia and Herzegovina at present. Those are: JP PTT BiH, Sarajevo-based and operating largely in the Federation and Brcko District; JODP Telekom Srpske, Banjaluka-based and operating largely in the Republic of Srpska and Brcko District, and finally HPT Mostar d.o.o. operating largely in the same area as JP PTT BiH. None of the three has as yet undergone privatisation. General perception of their performance is that their behaviour is monopolistic, and all three highly favour their own Internet Service Provider (ISP). Thus the delivery time for their services can be lengthy, whilst the services themselves may be of low quality.

Bosnian rate of the Internet usage is far from impressive. Bosnia and Herzegovina is toward the very bottom of the rating list among transition countries, having left behind only Belarus, Macedonia and Moldova (see chart in .pdf format of the text).

Where Now

Given that the PC and the mobile phone are beyond the economic reach of many of the population at present, how can they receive the information? 

Perhaps the time has come to think the unthinkable. 

• Is it possible for people of the region to have internet access via TV sets without having to purchase a PC?

• Is it possible for all of the region to have ready access to information on “open government”, heatlhcare and education - as well as commerce? 

• Is it possible for all of the population of the region to have access to broadcasting AND information? 

My answer is - yes, via the TV screen! It CAN be achieved by the current generation European digital broadcasting system AND that system could be used to bring in additional income.

Digital Transmission: Benefits

A possible solution to bring the countries of the region into the Information Society and to help them not only to cross the digital divide but also help develop the economies, is the early application of the European Standard Digital Terrestrial Television System (DTTV). This system can enable direct display of internet information on the TV set – in addition to offering further revenue earning services. With this system PBS can offer information to all in the country PLUS it can help create new sources of income.

The DTTV system offers:

• Many high quality TV channels in the radio frequency space taken by one analogue (the existing system) channel. 

• The ability to offer interactive services including internet displayed on the TV screen.

• Robust interference free reception – the “ghosts” on normal TV channels disappear.

• Transmitters operate at much lower power (typically 1/10^th) to cover the same area as the current transmitters and yet carry more than one programme. This results in a significant saving of operating cost.

• The ability to establish a national information system which cannot be affected by external influences (as can digital satellite TV) 

PLUS it could cost no more to install than to replace existing old and unreliable analogue transmitters with new  analogue (basically designed in 1939) ones.

Digital Transmission: Doing Away with the Myths

I maintain that any discussion on digital TV must first do away with certain myths. 

Myth 1 is: “Digital Television does not exist!”. It does in all modern studios. All modern programme creation uses digits which enable more faithful reproduction, more flexible editing  and post-production facilities in the studio. 

Myth 2 is: “Digital television does not exist in the home!” Quite the contrary, modern televisions (and sound systems) use digital processing.

However the transmission systems for picture transmission in Europe have used “analogue” since they were first brought into use in 1939. 

Most importantly, one should not assume digital transmission will arrive some foggy time in the future: all of Europe is now changing to Digital Terrestrial Television broadcasting (DTTV). 

Reasons are many: better quality, more robust, more channels in less spectrum (so the remaining spectrum can be used for highly profitable telecomms services). It can also include additional services such as internet.

The question is why it has not happened more rapidly? One answer is because digital satellite has been able to move further and faster - and has proved to be a powerful competitor. In addition, it has proved difficult for Western European countries to persuade the population to buy the black box converter needed to supply the signal to their existing TV sets. Perhaps most importantly - there has been no perceived added value for the existing viewers in Western Europe who already have access to many of the services. . One may rightly ask why people are so sure that it WILL eventually happen. I suggest that it is guaranteed to be put in place, because it is of strategic importance to every single nation. No nation will allow a key element of public information to be under the control of another country as is the case with most satellite systems.  

DTTV has indeed now started in many European countries - take up is slower than administrations hoped because of the lack of a significant benefit over the existing TV systems. In BiH and several other countries in the region the existing analogue system covers a relatively small percent of population and is inadequate to meet the current needs so a DTTV system should be very attractive. 

Many of the real advantages of Digital TV have been demonstrated by the satellite systems. Because they have immediate regional coverage they get the benefits of scale. Satellite TV does not however overcome the strategic aspects of DTTV and does not allow the administrations to reallocate the existing analogue TV bands - nor can it supply local TV. 

Digital Transmission: The Facts

It is of importance to note that NO additional elements are needed in the studios if  the existing TV channels were to be changed to DTTV. But additional channels/services which can be offered by DTTV mean that the broadcaster can generate additional income from these services - e.g. premium channels for films (first run and repeats), themed channels (e.g. sports, culture and education), lease spare capacity to other broadcasters who wish to have country wide channels and information services (open government, education, clinicians information) etc.

The services can be carried to all relevant transmitters and then distributed by digital transmitters which are typically 1/10th the power of the existing transmitters and yet can carry several channels whereas the analogue system needs one transmitter for each channel. 

However – additional units called Digital Converters need to be connected between the aerial of the receiver and the receiver itself (black boxes). The converters are being given to viewers in UK  - but that is justified because the viewers have to commit to a minimum period of paying for premium services. In this region a key opportunity is for the Digital Converters to be assembled and tested by the skilled people of the region. The labour costs are low, the  chipsets are low-cost, the black boxes could be assembled here for the local markets and also to supply the whole of Europe 

As to the regulation, the regulatory developments are slowed down in most of Europe because of the need to protect existing investments. In BiH however the regulations can be framed to stimulate new investment and services.

Digital Transmission: Difficulties

The major difficulty, not at all unexpectedly, concerns funding. In broadcasting, funds  ARE in fact shrinking across the whole of Europe - what can be done in this region? 

One of the normal solutions in the past would be to seek help from donors, but this is unlikely to work as donors need to see sustainable services and – as we noted - broadcasting costs money. 

Help can be sought from the government as well, in the form of cutting tax or offering tax incentives. This is possible but the economy is so poor that this is no more likely than getting funds from donors. 

Some possible solutions apply only to PBS - like public fee increase or grants - but they are not too reliable either. 

There are however other sources of income. For example, some funds can be secured by selling locally made content to other outlets within BiH and beyond, thus developing a market in local or even regional programme sales. But the key opportunity is the possibility of developing premium broadcast services and particularly developing into the information services which are currently available only from the telecommunications sector.

A Roadmap

Content Development – Initially little change to programme making – the same programme can be run / sold many times over including offering a premium “On-Demand service” and on into creation for the specialist service suppliers.

Distribution Developments – Rapid transfer to satellite distribution to transmitters such that the older and inefficient units can be traded for low power units focussed on population coverage. Start the move to server based playout from the studios.

Transmission Developments – Establish a “Digital Pilot” scheme in the Region. Take financial commitments for transmission away from PBS and hand-over to a Transco.. Rollout digital services rapidly.

Receiver Developments – Initially import receivers – then import chipsets and fabricate the digiboxes in BiH for BiH, the region and Europe.

Regulatory Development – Little action is needed apart from moves to enable Wireless Local Loop and to consider the detail of Universal Service Obligation.

Service Developments – Rollout the information services as rapidly as possible – the funded ones first, to bring rapid additional income to PBS. Those can include: scheduled programme delivery, on-demand programme delivery, government info service delivery, education/training service delivery, specialist class user service delivery etc. 

Funding Developments – First the crucial Business Plan, then the transfer of existing pre-approved funds, then the case for access to Information Society funding (if needed). In parallel make the case for other appropriate sources of investment income e.g. manufacturers (business case), commerical proposal for Transco concession, World Bank etc.

Conclusions

Finally, I feel I need to explain why I believe that we must do something and we must do it now. 

First of all, the available funding from normal sources is shrinking. It is therefore even more important to make the best use of the funding avaliable and to stop wasting investment on more analogue transmitter systems with a short life. Only this can help avoid the people of the region staying on the wrong side of the “Digital Divide”, particularly as all European Union will be using digital transmission within some  ten years fropm now. Finally,- and perhaps most importantly - this project would provide rural populations with access to essential minimum information. 

In summary this proposal can offer many benefits - such as that of being a catalyst for the start of a  high-tech manufacturing business in the country, for the country and beyond. It also enables  the Public Broadcast Service to develop as an  information services supplier and thus access new income streams. Ultimately, this proposal could prove to be the basis for the e-economy in the region. 

Please note that the views expressed are those of the author and may not be taken to be the confirmed policy of the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Hercegovina. David C. Betts is Deputy Head of Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ©Media Online 2001. All rights reserved.

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source: Media Online 
published by: Roland Brunner rbr@medienhilfe.ch date of release on this site:02-11-2001

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