From Digital Switchover Taskforce
I have got an authourised Aurora card in a Remote Central and Eastern Australian TV1 area...I got this email back from the taskforce....It states quote ""To receive digital signals you will have to switch to the VAST service you can apply for this 6 months before your switchover date which is in the 1st half of 2013."" end quote ...go figure!!!!! do they really know . I clearly said i was viewing tv with Aurora card in a town in TV1 area also gave them postcode. TV1 Rem Cent and East Aust switchover is DEC 15th, sometimes you feel likeanyway here is the email i got back.
Dear ______,
Thank you for your enquiry to the Digital Switchover Taskforce. I apologise for the delay in replying.
The Australian Government is taking action to facilitate a smooth transition from an analog to a digital environment well before switchover occurs in each switchover area.
The mySwitch program found at is designed to provide all the information you require to prepare for switchover in your area. This includes your predicted digital TV coverage and channels, your switch off date for analog TV, and links to your local Australian Government Endorsed Antenna Installers, retailers participating in the Retail Advisor Scheme and events.
To receive digital signals you will have to switch to the VAST service you can apply for this 6 months before your switchover date which is in the 1st half of 2013.
Minister’s announcement on satellite television services
On 5 January 2010, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, announced that the Australian Government will fund a new digital television satellite service for viewers who are unable to obtain adequate reception of their local digital television terrestrial services.
The new Government-funded digital satellite service will carry the full suite of free-to-air television channels in all regions of Australia. This will for the first time mean that people in regional and remote Australia will have access to the same number of channels as is available in capital cities. This will include channels providing Seven, Nine and Ten services, and the related commercial digital-only channels, such as 7TWO, GO! and ONE HD. Local regional commercial news bulletins will be available via a dedicated news channel. Further details about this news channel are being developed by broadcasters and will be announced in due course.
All state-based ABC and SBS services, including ABC2 and ABC3, SBS TWO and the new ABC 24 hour news channel, when it launches, will also be carried on the satellite.
The Government is currently in consultation with broadcasters about arrangements to implement the new satellite service. Further information about accessing the new service will be made available when arrangements are finalised and will be published on . The services will be available prior to switchover in your area.
The Government will provide a satellite conversion subsidy to eligible households currently served by self-help sites that are not upgraded to digital by the broadcasters, to meet part of the cost of conversion.
You can find the Candidate list of self-help sites proposed for upgrading by broadcasters on the Digital Ready website .
On 14 April 2010, the Minister announced the agreement between the Australian Government and broadcasters Southern Cross Media and Imparja to establish a joint venture company, Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) that will provide digital TV services to viewers in eastern Australia who cannot receive terrestrial digital TV.
The satellite service will be available for the Mildura/Sunraysia region as the first region to switch over to digital-only TV on 30 June 2010.
To access the VAST service, viewers will need to purchase a new satellite set top box with an access ‘smart card’, a satellite dish and cabling.
The signal from the Eastern VAST service will be covering the Eastern states, South Australia and the Northern Territory. A satellite service for Western Australia viewers is currently under negotiations.
The standard definition signal will cover two separate areas in two different time zones: (i) viewers in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania will be provided with a common signal based on Sydney time; and (ii) viewers in Queensland and the Northern Territory will be provided with a common signal based on Brisbane time. The high definition signal will be a common signal provided on Sydney time throughout the Eastern VAST.
Accordingly, the content is not State based but rather will be based on the full suite of digital channels provided by commercial licensees with some changes permitted in certain cases.
Eastern VAST viewers will be able to watch their local news through a dedicated news channel. State based ABC and SBS news services would also be available on their respective channels.
A satellite service for Western Australian viewers, using the same Optus platform, is currently under negotiation with the remote area commercial TV licensees in Western Australia (Prime and WIN Television).
You can find further information about the new satellite service for digital TV on the Digital Ready website . The Digital Ready website is available detailing updates and further information on Australia’s digital television transition as announcements are made.
The Digital Ready information line operates 7 days a week from 8am to 10pm (AEST) via a free-call number 1800 2010 13 to provide advice in relation to switchover across Australia. If you have further enquiries, please call the Digital Ready information line.
Kind regards
Digital Switchover Taskforce
| Look Here -> |
Thanks mate.
Last edited by ramcd; 04-10-10 at 12:13 AM.
You simply got the wrong 'standard letter'.
Your right farmsky.
The thing is, i don't think they checked where the town is that i gave them,its smack bang in the middle of TV1 licence area, on map 1
Phone call might be in order 1 thinks
Phoned the taskforce, gave all details again,after back and forth of dialogue..he said 1st half of 2013...more back and forth of dialogue about Remote area licence area...he said Dec 15th...so conflicting info still on there site.
So i sent an email to VAST enquiries...this makes it clearer
Hi ------,
Thanks for your email.
We can advise that because you are located within the Remote Central and Eastern Australia TV1 license area, you will be eligible to receive the VAST services from the 15th of December 2010.
Please check out our website, , for more information.
Regards,
-------
VAST Administration
T: 03 5430 2796 | F: 03 5430 2797
E: vast.administration@mysattv.com.au
W:
I posted this similar information Mid last week.
At one address according to 'THEM' I can get 'VAST' from 15 th of December 2010, Cross the road that is the map boundry to the other area and its NOT available untill the first half of 2012.
Both areas clearly state that NO Service is available and NONE is planned at a future date !!!
A TOTALY idiotic and senseless arrangement.
I stand unequivicably behind everything I say, I just dont ever remember saying it !!
shit I hope they get this sorted out before WA gets its turn
With us being so far away from Canberra they might think we belong to south africa or something.
again beauracratic stupidness
Looks to me like human error,as always, people not entering correct licence area data or co-ordinates into computer for the myswitch site where you check your location....especially for the area my card is in. Sorted now
I rang Digitalready a couple of days ago and was told that while it is yet to be confirmed, they expect the switch over in Eastern Qld to occur in August. If that happens, blackspot viewers will be able to apply in February.
I like to think the process will be much simpler in WA, like Aurora. An "Anyone can get it as long as they're not within the metro area" sort of arrangement. There's no point in making it any more difficult than that, because GWN and WIN cover the entire area, unlike Central. And by the looks of things now, WA VAST is only going to be the 3 main channels to begin with (not including ABC/SBS), so it shouldn't disadvantage the terrestrial rollout, again unlike Central.Originally Posted by efab
The problem with that, is there are plenty of 'black spots' (not to mention grey spots) within what would be regarded as 'metro' areas. There's certainly loads of them in my outer-metro patch.
Michael
This is the case in many terrestrial-coverage areas, but due to terrain, people in such areas have NO terrestrial reception, digital or analogue, but at this point in time are forced to wait until 6 months prior to analogue switchoff in their licence area, to be granted access to VAST.
For those in Mel Syd Bris areas, that's the second half of 2013, which is absurd, considering there are no plans for terrestrial digital translators in most of the affected areas.
This is a very valid issue that needs to be addressed
- and in SA from the metro transmitters....
For those in Mel Syd Bris areas, that's the second half of 2013, which is absurd, considering there are no plans for terrestrial digital translators in most of the affected areas.
I'm currently putting info together for one of my customers in just such a situation. The Ikusi log files are just a series of dashes and blank spaces followed by "FAIL"
Says it all really.
Michael
Last edited by michael_sa; 07-11-10 at 10:39 AM.
Point taken, but I'm looking at VAST from an 'Aurora replacement' perspective, not a 'TV for everyone' blackspot filler. If the govt has set rules for accessing VAST in Perth, then the answers are there. As for the regional areas, my opinion above still stands; to let everyone with a regional WA address get instant approval, just like Aurora.
Last edited by Smacca; 13-11-10 at 01:52 AM.
Smacca....agreed......why is the obvious so hard for the rule makers to fathom?
Smacca....agreed......why is the obvious so hard for the rule makers to fathom?
As Allway the vested interests(big Biz) of the few are looked after b4 us the little people.
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