End of analog TV in the Basel region
UPC Cablecom is also discontinuing all analog TV channels in the Basel region: Starting at the end of April, only digital channels will be available. Central and Eastern Switzerland have already made the switch; the rest of Switzerland will follow by mid-year.
On April 21, Cablecom will switch off 16 of the current 21 analog TV channels in the Basel region, as the company announced on Tuesday. SRF 1, SRF zwei, SRF Info, Telebasel and Joiz will remain available in analog form until April 27. These channels will also be switched off on Tuesday, April 28. Cablecom currently provides a good 70 digital TV channels unencrypted. While digital customers should not notice the analog switch-off, existing analog customers will have to take action: Anyone with a newer TV set with a DVB-C tuner can bring in the 70 digital channels with a channel search. Most sets manufactured after 2010 have such a digital cable tuner built in.
On older devices without a DVB-C tuner - tube sets or early LCD TVs - you can only watch digital programs with a converter. Cablecom provides one such converter per household free of charge; however, this does not provide high-definition (HD) pictures. You can also buy a converter - or a modern television.
Competitive pressure
The procedure was agreed with the Telebasel Foundation, which emerged from the Basel Cable Network Foundation. In other regions, the switchover was also carried out in two stages - this gives customers a few days to react if they notice the switch-off before there is nothing but analog screens. According to Cablecom, the digital switchover to date has gone "according to plan and successfully". Customers in Basel will be informed of the upcoming switchover by means of letters, e-mails, brochures, etc. as well as tickers at the affected stations. Incidentally, the Bern region is also being converted at the same time as Basel (Werbewoche.ch reported). Cablecom has been working on digitizing its offering for a good 15 years. The associated switch-offs of analog channels have repeatedly caused problems. Thanks to competition, more and more digital channels - also in HD - can now be received unencrypted, i.e. at no extra cost in addition to the cable connection.
According to UPC Cablecom, it currently has over 1.4 million customers in Switzerland for its TV, Internet and telephony services. The company's own cable network supplies two million households and companies nationwide. The company was unable to provide information on its market share in the region. Cablecom currently operates the former Balcab cable network in Basel and will take it over completely from the foundation in 2028. The foundation, which was established in 1988, owns the Basel cable network and holds the broadcasting license for Telebasel. Incidentally, the first digital channels were fed into the Basel network in October 2000. (SDA)
