Last analogue TV signals in Belgium to shut down this year

The last provider of analogue TV in Belgium, Telenet, is shutting down the signal by the end of this year. Anyone still using a cable that connects directly to a wall outlet will have to switch to digital by December.

According to Telenet, about 7% of their customers still subscribe to analogue TV services. That’s about 100,000 households in Flanders and Brussels. “We will inform all of them over the course of the  year what they need to do to continue watching TV,” Isabelle Geeraerts of Telenet told VRT.

The move will allow Telenet to free up space on its network for digital applications. “We are all continually using more data,” said Geeraerts. “We are video conferencing more and more, we are sending a whole lot of photos to each other, and we are streaming series and films en masse. In other words, digital traffic on the cable does nothing by increase. We have to take care that there is sufficient space for this digital motorway, so that the traffic can move along it smoothly.”

Most consumers know if they are using analogue or digital TV, but no worries if you’re unsure. Telenet is contacting all of its analogue customers to tell them what to do at least a month ahead of the switch. If you have a TV that’s less than about 10 years old, that usually means simply reprogramming your channels.

For older TVs, a Digicorder or Digibox is required, which can be rented from Telenet. The company is offering free rental for a year for those who lose their analogue signal.

Other than that, the switch will not cost current analogue customers anything extra. The subscriptions remain the same, only the signal involved in delivering the service will change.

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