Building and operating digital terrestrial television in the UK

Digital terrestrial television (DTT) commenced trial operational service in the United Kingdom in Autumn 1997, leading on to a full service launch July 1998. By the end of the century there will be a network of 81 transmitters and over 30 studios/play-out centres, providing a DTT service of 6 multiplexes to the majority of UK homes. DTT transmissions will be accommodated alongside the existing UHF analogue services, but at a much lower radiated power. Constructing this DTT network will build on the extensive experience Castle Transmission International (CTI) have gained in both the continued operation of analogue networks and the introduction of new digital services for the BBC over the past 10 years. Nevertheless this new technology brings a fresh set of engineering challenges for the transmission services provider in terms of system design, signal distribution, service information exchange, adjacent channel combining, and network monitoring. These challenges must be met with due regard to the cost and service availability constraints demanded by the multiplex operators, whose services must compete for audience in the overall broadcasting marketplace