MCA Awards 2003
Highly Commended: Production & Services Management Category
PA Consulting Group; client - Office of the Telecommunications Authority, Hong Kong
Hong Kong, with its hilly terrain and proximity to mainland China, is not the easiest place to roll out digital television. Its telecoms regulator decided, therefore, to call in consultants rather than tackle the task on its own. PA Consulting Group had to reconcile the needs of viewers and regulators in Hong Kong and the mainland, while meeting the technical challenge of finding the optimal allocation of frequencies.
Any solution needed to ensure that existing analogue transmission would not be disrupted during the changeover process - and to guarantee a mutually acceptable allocation of channels to viewers in Hong Kong and mainland China
The PA team, which was based in the UK, used a customised computer modelling process to evaluate alternative frequency allocations. It began by matching the outputs of six different modelling systems against readings taken in the field. Having settled on the most effective model, they then used it to plot the coverage of each transmitter, allowing for the likelihood of interference and the tricky terrain. With many transmitter sites, and the possibility of using up to 48 frequency channels from each one, the number of potential solutions was enormous.
Once a series of suitable plans were identified, PA looked at how acceptable each one would be to the various stakeholders they had to satisfy - viewers, broadcasters, regulators and the authorities.
The technological case for the solution eventually chosen had to be rigorous enough to withstand scrutiny from proponents of alternative systems, and PA prepared the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) to defend it.
Members of the team travelled to Hong Kong to assist both OFTA and the mainland China authorities to understand the technical issues and to identify mutually acceptable allocations of frequencies. Julian Lake, the assignment leader, said that as well as technological know-how and experience in the broadcasting field, the project required "a significant degree of negotiating skills".
Armed with the plan put together by PA, OFTA has managed to get preliminary agreement from the other stakeholders on frequency allocations to enable a rollout of digital TV across Hong Kong, and it has been left with the expertise and planning software to complete future evaluations itself. TY Chan, the head of OFTA's advisory and planning division, praised what he called "excellent support from a dedicated team of professionals" at PA.
