In recent months, Colombia's private free-to-air channels have clashed with pay-TV operators over the retransmission of their signals in high definition, generating a lawsuit that has regulators studying the case.
The pretense of the Caracol and RCN channels is that operators pay to retransmit their signal in HD. Faced with the refusal to accept this request, the channels took out their signals in HD for the operators, leaving only the analog signal. And its HD signal only for the cities that today receive digial television. The discussion was generated in the months before the start of the World Cup in Brazil, so the impact was greater.
But while the National Television Authority, the Superintendency of Companies and the other regulators rule on the matter, a possible solution could be found in other Latin American countries.
With the implementation of digital television in Brazil, as well as in other countries in the region, subscription television operators are delivering their set-top boxes compatible with the open signal and giving their users the air antenna. In this way the user can access local television in high definition through the open signal and operators can use these spaces to broadcast more channels.
Although this does not satisfy the claims of both parties in the Colombian case, at least the viewer is not affected, who is ultimately benefited or harmed by the actions of the channels and operators.
While this is just one example of what could be done taking into account the examples of neighbouring countries, we will have to wait for the substantive decisions that regulators will take. At the moment, Colombians could watch the World Cup in Brazil in HD.
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