Archive

2009/02/19

The towns of Lugo and Sarria now have TDT interactive services thanks to the pilot project developed by VILAU and Telefónica Soluciones.

This pioneering system in Spain was funded by the Ministry for Industry, Tourism and Trade as part of the Avanza Local Plan. Vilau and Telefónica Soluciones developed the project and implemented it in conjunction with Compañia de Radio Television de Galicia (Galicia's broadcasting company), along with the Autonomous Government of Galicia and the Local Councils of Lugo and Sarria, and Retegal.

On 19 February, the ceremony to mark the completion of the Avanza Local TDT Project in Galicia took place in the meeting room of Lugo City Council and the project was unveiled by the Major of Logo, José López Orozco. The event was attended by representatives of all the entities that had taken part in the project. Special mention should be made of the presence of Joaquín Abati, Head of the Digital Contents Division representing the Ministry for Industry, Technology and Commerce, Carlos Monclús, TVG Secretary General, and Vicente Noguerales, ICT Solutions Director representing Telefónica Soluciones. Vilau was represented by Ricardo González and Aitor Bizkarguenaga, Director of the Cast Division and Head of Interactive TV Projects, respectively.

The project managers stressed that is an important future initiative, which forges the way for the logical evolution of a closer relationship between the Public Administration and the citizens, thus reducing the impact of the so-called Digital Divide. Television stations are currently incorporating these technologies into their Digital TV platforms, within their Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) strategy. They are therefore already in a position to respond to the new demands that society requires.

The CRTVG public corporation, along with Retegal, the telecommunications operator, was involved in deploying the project, by allowing the use of its TDT channels (TVG and G2) and of its infrastructures to broadcast the interactive services.

During the project, funded by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, 100 TDT-MHP receivers have been installed in as many homes in the towns of Lugo, Sarria and Santiago de Compostela. These citizens volunteered to enjoy at home the services offered by the authorities on their television sets. The citizen just has to use the remote control of the TDT receiver to interact with those services.

The TDT pilot project, the first of its kind in Spain, will mean that any users livings in Galicia and who have a TDT receiver with MHP will be able to access the various interactive services, which were previously available through the websites of the Autonomous Government of Galicia. These services include the weather forecast, 112 emergency services and the job seekers portal.

In the province of Lugo, the users in Lugo and Sarria can also access local interactive services, including News, What's On, Survey, Alerts, Telephone Directory and Tourist Information.

The aim is to bring the local and autonomous public administrations closer to the citizens and the Surveys service allows the citizens to express their opinions through the TV in their living room. This marks the start of the transition from e-government to t-government.

Vilau is in charge of the implementation, design, development and broadcasting of the television interactive services for this project. It has used the technology of its partner Alticast, the world leader in developing Interactive Digital Television Integral Solutions.