Q&A -
Background
What is NorDig?
Why?
How?
When?
Who are the members of NorDig?
What is NorDig?
NorDig is a cooperative organisation consisting of Nordic television
companies and telecom companies as constituted 5th November
1997 in Odense Denmark (see press-release and Odense-document).
The Odense declaration declares, that transmission and reception
of digital TV in the Nordic countries should introduced in an open,
standardised market with horizontal competition. Competition should
be on content and services; not on technical platform.
NorDig seek to formulate and follow a common strategy leading to
the introduction of digital television in the Nordic countries (Denmark,
Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).
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Why?
The overarching goals of this collaboration are threefold:
- To make the transition from analogue to digital television
reception as simple as possible for Nordic viewers.
- To avoid end eliminate technical hindrances which
might block viewers' access to the various programme companies'
output, and
- To make the transitional period with parallel analogue
and digital transmissions as short as possible.
The cooperation should ensure:
- that viewers be given the greatest
possible freedom of choice of channels, services and distribution
systems, which is to say the avoidance of a market made up of
multiple, closed solutions which curtail viewers' freedom of
choice, and affording television companies the possibility of
direct contact with audiences, as the companies deem appropriate.
- that the nationwide channels of all the
Nordic countries be accessible throughout the Nordic region,
should the broadcasting company so wish.
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How?
- By specifying a uniform set of criteria
and requirements regarding receiver apparatus. A common IRD for
the different operators and the different transmission medias,
satellite, cable and terrestrial networks, is seen to be a
necessary implementation for achieving the NorDig goal.
- By committed migration (06.03.01) from
today's closed proprietary systems to the MHP-platform.
- By distributors commitment to sell
CA-modules to Common Interface and smart cards without
discrimination in the open market.
- By harmonisation of transmissions via the NorDig "rules
of operation" from Q3 2001.
By harmonisation of the IRDs
- NorDig I HW from Q3 2001,
NorDig IRDs in compliance with the Basic, Enhanced,
Interactive (NorDig II) and Internet Access profiles when
such IRDs become available in the market. See also the NorDig
migration plan towards a common API.
- By verification test procedures "self
test" spec's available from April 2001.
- By NorDig logo for IRDs that comply with
the NorDig minimum requirements.
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When?
On March 6 , 2001 consensus was given on a for migrating towards
an unified and open API-based on DVB-MHP. This manifestation has
been reaffirmed in a new plan which was signed by the members on
October 16, 2002.
Migration
Plan 2002-10-16.pdf
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