On 12 March 2015 the President of the Polish Office for Electronic Communications (Polish: UKE) announced a contest for frequency reservations in the 174 - 230 MHz band, dedicated for the eighth multiplex (MUX-8) of Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT). The bidders have until April 29, 2015 to make their offers.
The winner of the contest will become the operator of MUX-8 and should offer channels of the state-funded broadcaster (TVP) and commercial broadcasters. Namely, the audiovisual content of the MUX-8 will consist of 3 HD programs or 1 HD and 1 SD program broadcast by TVP and 4 SD programs broadcast by commercial broadcasters). The television channels should be available to viewers free of charge.
Once the winner of the contest is chosen by the UKE, the Chairman of the Polish National Broadcasting Council (Polish: KRRiT) should initiate separate proceedings to award administrative licences to broadcasters interested in placing their television channels on MUX-8.
To date, three free-to-view multiplexes have been launched in Poland which all together includes 24 channels. In addition Cyfrowy Polsat has also launched its pay-to-view multiplex. Market interest in the proceedings is very high as MUX8 could be the last multiplex dedicated to DTT to be launched in the foreseeable future.
For information on the contest, see the UKE's website
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