§ Mr. Sackvilleasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what transmission standards will be required for the services to be provided by the holders of the Independent Broadcasting Authority contract for the provision of direct broadcasting by satellite services; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HurdI confirmed on 27 March 1986 that, subject to any new factors emerging, C-MAC should be the standard use for all United Kingdom DBS services. Further study by industry and the broadcasters has, however, shown that D-MAC would offer advantages over C-MAC and the IBA has requested that D-MAC should be adopted. I have therefore agreed that D-MAC, suitably adapted fo satellite transmission, should be used in place of C-MAC for United Kingdom DBS services. Steps are being taken to submit the specification for the satellite transmission version of D-MAC (which has 541W already been published internationally as a standard for cable transmission) for definition by the appropriate international bodies. This is in line with the requirements of the EC Council directive on the adoption of common technical specifications of the MAC/packet family of standards for direct satellite television broadcasting.