Cable Distribution in Belgium of Broadcasted Programmes Some of Which Cannot Normally Be Received Locally

Abstract

Today 57% of Belgian television viewers are subscribers of some cable distribution system. Distribution of foreign television programmes, which cannot be received off-the-air, or whose local reception is poor, has come naturally together with the advent of cable networks, as major parts of the country were already very well covered by foreign transmitters often installed close to the national borders. In 1971 the PTT decided to build a national micro-wave system to carry these programmes over the whole of the country and to deliver them to the cable headends. The first PTT link was put into service in the autumn of 1976, but other links existed since 1967 Micro-wave transmission of television programmes does not pose new technical problems. It may be regretted that the same can not be said about the legal aspects of such distribution.