The ramifications of restacking

18 Mar 2011

Restacking the digital TV channels is an inevitable necessity for many regions in Australia. Broadcast Australia is working hard to ensure infrastructure upgrades are in place to facilitate these changes.

With final analogue switch-off scheduled for completion by the end of 2013, the Australian Government has stated that a reallocation of digital channels—'restacking'—is both inevitable and targeted for completion by year-end 2014. The challenge for the broadcasters is to understand how restacking will be managed across Australia, and how the resources will be made available to facilitate these changes in such a short timeframe.

Restacking will involve a rationalisation of both the 'liberated' analogue spectrum and the spectrum currently used for digital services, thereby optimising total spectrum usage by both digital television (DTV) and other non-TV services. As such, restacking is expected to have a widespread impact on the established DTV services, although the effects will vary by region.

Digital disruption

According to Broadcast Australia Business Manager – Broadcast, Salvatore Mattera, restacking will mean that digital channels already operating will have to be reallocated in many areas. "In some instances this will require a simple frequency change, but for others it may also necessitate equipment and antennas upgrades," he said. "This will result in a cost to the broadcasters."

Moreover, the disruption of restacking will not be confined to the broadcasters, but will also be felt by the consumer. "In most cases, the consumer will not need to invest in new equipment—once they have purchased a digital TV or set-top box—as they will only need to retune their TVs or set top boxes to receive the re-allocated digital signals." said Salvatore. "However, in some cases, additional receive antenna systems will also be required to accommodate the re-allocated digital signals."

Restacking with rollout

In spite of the expected disruption, opportunities exist to limit the effects in some areas. "In regional WA, many of the commercial DTV services haven't yet been rolled out—particularly in rural areas," said Salvatore. "Here, commercial broadcasters will be able to rollout their new services in conjunction with restacking. This will avoid unnecessary costs of installing a service and then subsequently having to modify it to meet restacking requirements."

Broadcast Australia is happy to support the commercial broadcasters in combining rollout and restacking. Importantly, the company is working hard to support and work with its own customers to ensure all deadlines are met and costs arising from restacking are minimised.

"We are committed to ensuring our sites are fully prepared to accommodate the changes that restacking will necessitate," said Salvatore. "This will ensure that there is no delay in service delivery for the broadcasters and the viewers." 

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