THE DEVELOPMENT OF IPTV AND VODIN EUROPE IN THE CONTEXT OF TRANSITION TO DIGITAL TELEVISION 50 THE DEVELOPMENT OF IPTV AND VoD IN EUROPE IN THE CONTEXT OF TRANSITION TO DIGITAL TELEVISION by Dr. André Lange* In Europe, the transition to digital television continues to follow different routes from country to country. Depending on the conditions specific to each national market, digital terrestrial television, direct digital satellite broadcasting, the digitization of cable networks and broadcasting over broadband networks in ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), commonly known as IPTV, all play a greater or smaller role in the transition. By estimates of the European Audiovisual Observatory, 24.4 percent of TV households in the European Union (EU) were equipped to receive digital television by the end of 2005. 1 The percentage for greater Europe was a little below 22 percent. 2 I. THE TRANSITION TO DIGITAL TELEVISION A. Digital Terrestrial Television The move from analog terrestrial to digital terrestrial television (or DTT) was driven by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Conference of European Post and Telecommunications (CEPT). On June 16, 2006, following the Regional Telecommunications Conference held in Geneva in 2006 by the ITU, an agreement with treaty status was signed on digital broadcasting services. 3 This agreement states that “the generalization of digital broadcasting in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Islamic Republic of Iran by 2015 will be a major advance in the establishment of a more equitable information society with a human dimension.” 4 This agreement opens the way to the use of all the opportunities offered by the information and communications technologies for achievement of the development objectives recognized at the international level. The year * Dr. André Lange is the Head of Department “Information on markets and Financing” at the European Audiovisual Observatory (Council of Europe, Strasbourg). 1 EUROPEAN AUDIOVISUAL OBSERVATORY, Yearbook 2006, Council of Europe Strasbourg, 2006. 2 Id. 3 Regional Agreement GE06, June 16, 2006, http://www.ucc.co.ug/spectrum/geO6digitalFinalActs.pdf (last visited Nov. 30, 2007). 4 Id.