ITC commission research into digital broadcast transmissions

The ITC have amended their technical standards to authorise those digital broadcasters who wish to broadcast in 16-QAM transmission mode rather than the current 64-QAM.
This follows the re-advertising of licences for three digital terrestrial multiplexes and the success of tenders based on the 16-QAM transmission mode.
In the light of technical assessments, including laboratory trials, and following the licence awards, the ITC have said they are minded to mandate 16-QAM as the transmission mode for all DTT services. A consultation on this proposition closed on September 12.
Proponents of a change to 16-QAM argued strongly that the benefits in terms of coverage and signal robustness justifies making 16-QAM the mandatory transmission standard. Other respondents maintained that the research evidence for this was not strong enough to outweigh the disadvantage of reducing the number of services available. The ITC were impressed by the argument from some respondents of the need to make the decision based on an assessment of the two modes in the domestic environment and have commissioned an independent study to undertake tests in dual mode, 64-QAM and 16-QAM transmission, in October when both modes will be in use.
The ITC will shortly be announcing field trials and research to provide practical in-home evidence of the performance of the two transmission modes. The most critical issue to assess will be the potential for differential performance between the public service channels carried at 64-QAM, and those at 16-QAM, in poor reception areas and in the presence of impulse interference from domestic appliances.
This research will allow new services to launch with their preferred mode and the industry to assess the impact of transmission mode change based on real evidence. The ITC intends to make a final decision on this issue for the New Year, based on the outcome of this research.
(GB)