Analog TV: Now it's the Mittelland's turn

Twelve of the remaining 17 analog channels will be dropped on May 12, as the company announced on Tuesday. The remaining five channels - including SRF 1, SRF 2 and Tele M1 - will be removed from the cable offering on May 19. According to the company, customers who already watch digital television from UPC Cablecom will not notice the analog switch-off. Customers with older sets will need a converter or a new television. On older sets without a DVB-C tuner - tube sets or early LCD TVs - digital programs can only be watched with a converter. The company provides one converter per household free of charge. This does not provide high-resolution pictures. The company will discontinue analog services throughout Switzerland by the middle of this year. In a first step, Central Switzerland was completely digitized in November. The last analog channels in Biel and parts of French-speaking Switzerland have already been switched off this year. In the Basel region, UPC Cablecom will switch off analog channels from April 21.

Inter GGA also switches off the analog signal

Inter GGA, the largest independent cable network operator in northwestern Switzerland with around 44,000 customers, also announced the switch-off of the analog signal on Tuesday. However, this will not take place until 27 October 2015, as Managing Director Gregor Schmid explained in a press release: "The costs and investments required to maintain the analogue TV channel offering are disproportionately high. In addition, one analog channel requires as much space as ten SD or four HD channels. Saying goodbye to analog television is therefore a logical concession to the increasing demands of consumers". The complete switch-off of analog TV would create the conditions for further expanding the quality of supply and performance for Internet services and TV entertainment in the foreseeable future. (hae/pd/SDA)