Finland '94% digital by autumn'

[Gregg Lengling]

Digita, the company which provides broadcast network capacity and related customer solutions for media and telecom communities in Finland, is preparing to upgrade the country's digital television network this summer.

An additional 12 transmitters due to be switched on in the next few months, with test transmissions already started from seven sites and five more due to come on at the start of July.

Commercial broadcasters will start transmissions in August and September, at which point full digital television services are expected to be available to 94% of the population.

A recent survey Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications revealed that 19% of householders without digital television were likely to purchase an adaptor within the next six months. Penetration is at its highest in single-person households and in the countryside.