Analogue TV: end of an era

26 May 2010

There’s considerably more to shutting down analogue TV services than flicking a switch; the reality is a huge logistical and engineering exercise.

It is not long now until the first analogue television services in Australia will be switched off and decommissioned permanently. On 30 June 2010, all broadcast industry eyes will undoubtedly be focused on the Yatpool transmission site in the Mildura/Sunraysia region on the Victoria/New South Wales border; breaths will be held as circuit-breakers are activated and switches flicked.

Broadcast Australia will be shutting down analogue television services on behalf of the national broadcasters at Yatpool, and we have undertaken extensive preparations to ensure that this will be executed smoothly and with zero impact to existing services broadcast from the site (mainly digital television and FM radio).

The existing site infrastructure has been analysed in terms of re-balancing three-phase mains power supplies and forced air cooling systems to yield a scope of work specifically for that site. As a result, we're confident it will be smooth sailing on 30 June.

Site by site

Over the next few years, Broadcast Australia will shutdown analogue television services at hundreds of sites as the digital switchover progresses. Yatpool will be the first, and a useful test case, but plans are already well underway for the next sites to be targeted—December will see 17 sites in regional South Australia and Broken Hill switched over, followed by regional Victoria in the first half of 2011.

Each and every transmission site is unique and has its own challenges—such as different levels of accessibility and infrastructure complexity. Sites therefore need to be considered on a case by case basis to establish the procedures required for a smooth shutdown of analogue television services and decommissioning of equipment.

We aim to use a consistent evaluation approach for each site and provide standard solutions wherever possible. Our mandate is to ensure all activities are carried out in a safe manner and that remaining services stay online.

Logistical challenge

As the digital switchover progresses and more sites are affected, the project will have a huge logistical component. Broadcast Australia's field services team will undertake the majority of the site work, supported by the engineering team. It will be imperative that the field team follows procedure and completes the appropriate documentation for each site.

The property management team will also be involved, coordinating access and liaising with site owners (where applicable) regarding changes to services and assets.

In addition to engineering activities, Broadcast Australia's Network Operations Centre (NOC) will handle all the communications associated with switch-off, including changes in telemetry configuration, updating of status within the network management system, and remote termination of services in specific cases.

Managing the digital switchover across the whole of Australia is a massive undertaking and involves multiple dedicated teams and an enormous amount of planning. What happens at Mildura on 30 June is only the beginning and we look forward to it being a 'non event'.

Picture caption: Andy Townend from the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, with Stephen Farrugia from Broadcast Australia at Yatpool, the first Broadcast Australia site to have analogue television services shut off

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