Radio Spectrum

Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT)

Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial (DVB-T)

Digital terrestrial television is currently available in Ireland, provided by RTÉ under the branding of “SAORVIEW”. Originally launched on a trial basis, services commenced in May 2011 based on the DVB-T technology and standard. ComReg issued two DTT multiplex licences to RTÉ, one in December 2007 the other in May 2011, which conveys the rights of use to spectrum in the ultra high frequency (UHF) band to provide DTT. For information on receiving this digital service please see www.saorview.ie.

DVB-T was trialled in Ireland in August 2006, launched by the Department for Communications Marine and Natural Resources (DCMNR) across 1000 homes on the east coast between Dublin and Dundalk. Initially the trial used MPEG–2 encoding however, later the more advanced and spectrum efficient MPEG-4 encoding was used. MPEG-4 encoding makes it more feasible for DVB-T to carry High Definition (HD) programme services. For further information on the trial please visit the DCENR website or the DCENR managed website www.digitaltelevision.ie.

For details of the development of the DTT multiplex licensing regime, including technical licence conditions please follow this link to consultations page.

Digital Sound Broadcasting

Terrestrial - Digital Audio Broadcasting (T-DAB)

Digital Radio using T-DAB technology is available in Ireland today, provided by RTÉ. ComReg issued one digital radio multiplex licence to RTÉ in April 2009. For information on receiving digital radio please see www.rte.ie/digitalradio. Alternatively to view the technical details of the transmission sites currently licensed to RTÉ for digital radio please see our Technical Parameters page.

ComReg issued RTÉ a test & trial licence to conduct a T-DAB trial in August 2006.

For further details of the development of the licensing regime for sound broadcasting multiplexes please follow this link to consultations page.