Distribution of public radio and television - systems, threats and vulnerabilities
Publish date: 2004-01-01
Report number: FOI-R--1234--SE
Pages: 57
Written in: Swedish
Abstract
This report describes radio and television distribution in Sweden today and illustrates the vulnerability of the distribution systems. The report is descriptive and presents the radio and television distribution from a technical point of view. Commissioned by the Swedish Emergency Management Agency this study was conducted at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI). The study was also a part of a trainee program at FOI´s Department of Defence Analysis. At the beginning of the report, the basic conditions for radio and television distribution in Sweden are presented such as constitutions and operators. Then the technical systems, threats against them and the system´s vulnerabilities are described. Finally, the report considers the importance of well functioning radio and TV in crisis situations. In a crisis situation, radio and TV are necessary to bring out warnings, information from authorities and news. There are three ways to distribute radio and television signals in Sweden today: Using the terrestrial network, satellites or cable television networks, but we find the terrestrial network to be the least vulnerable alternative. The fact that there are several ways to distribute radio and television should in itself contribute to reduce the vulnerability.