European cable television frequencies

These tables detail the frequencies used in European cable networks. Cable networks use frequencies which are used by different users terrestrially, like the military, police radio, etc. Because of the late introduction of cable television in Europe, older television sets generally could not receive the special cable-only channels, so some countries (like Germany) still have the rule that the public TV stations must be located either in Band I or Band III. The Hyperband was allocated later than the other cable-only channels, so television sets produced in the late 80s and early 90s may lack this band.

In most cable networks, the UHF band is unusable because its frequency is too high, so TV stations are only allocated within Band I, III, the Mid-, Super- and Hyperband. Even in modern cable networks, only some UHF channels (like only channels 21–26) may be usable. This leads to a high level of congestion in many European cable TV networks, especially as analogue transmission, which is still commonplace in cable television in Europe, is being migrated to digital transmission.

Band I

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Channel Video Carrier (MHz) QAM Carrier (MHz) Audio Carrier (MHz)
2 48.25   53.75
3 55.25   60.75
4 62.25   67.75
X 69.25 74.75
Y 76.25 81.75
Z 83.25 88.75
Z+1 90.25 95.75
Z+2 97.25 102.75
D73   73.00  
D81   81.00  
  • Channels 2–4, if they are used for TV, are only used for analog transmission. In other cases, the frequencies are in use for DOCSIS.
  • Channels X, Y, Z, Z+1, Z+2, if they are used for TV, are only used for analog transmission.
  • Channels D73 and D81 are not formally assigned, but are used in certain regions of Germany as an interim solution until the cable networks are upgraded. In other regions, programs on these channels are usually located in the UHF band.

Midband

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Channel Video Carrier (MHz) QAM Carrier (MHz) Audio Carrier (MHz)
S01 105.25 106.00 to 107.50 110.75
S02 112.25 113.00 to 114.50 117.75
S03 119.25 120.00 to 121.50 124.75
S04 126.25 127.00 to 128.50 131.75
S05 133.25 134.00 to 135.50 138.75
S06 140.25 141.00 to 142.50 145.75
S07 147.25 148.00 to 149.50 152.75
S08 154.25 155.00 to 156.50 159.75
S09 161.25 162.00 to 163.50 166.75
S10 168.25 169.00 to 170.50 173.75
  • Channel S01 cannot be used at all because it overlaps with the FM radio band.
  • The frequency used by channels S02-S05 are used terrestrially for airband radio. This has led to disruptions in aircraft operations due to cable TV channels. Therefore, some countries, like Germany, have prohibited the use of these frequencies for analogue transmission in recent times.
  • Because analogue VHF transmission used a bandwidth of 7 MHz, but digital transmissions need 8 MHz, the frequencies are shifted accordingly, with one channel being unavailable for digital transmission. Due to the proximity to the FM radio band, some cable networks have opted to further shifting the frequencies by one megahertz.
  • Because analogue transmission on these frequencies uses 7 MHz bandwidth, digital also uses the same bandwidth. QAM carrier frequencies can vary in 0.5 MHz steps in the given range.

CCIR Band III

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Channel Video Carrier (MHz) QAM Carrier (MHz) Audio Carrier (MHz)
5 175.25 177.50 180.75
6 182.25 184.50 187.75
7 189.25 191.50 194.75
8 196.25 198.50 201.75
9 203.25 205.50 208.75
10 210.25 212.50 215.75
11 217.25 219.50 222.75
12 224.25 226.50 229.75
  • These channels are only used for analog and digital transmission.
  • Because of the CCIR analogue channel raster, digital transmission also uses 7 MHz bandwidth channels. Only the OIRT channel raster uses 8 MHz bandwidth in VHF band III.

OIRT Band III

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Channel Video Carrier (MHz) QAM Carrier (MHz) Audio Carrier (MHz)
6 175.25 178.00 181.75
7 183.25 186.00 189.75
8 191.25 194.00 197.75
9 199.25 202.00 205.75
10 207.25 210.00 213.75
11 215.25 218.00 221.75
12 223.25 226.00 229.75
  • In VHF band III, 8 MHz channel bandwidth is not used in the EU for digital transmission.

Superband

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Channel Video Carrier (MHz) QAM Carrier (MHz) Audio Carrier (MHz)
S11 231.25 234.00 236.75
S12 238.25 241.00 243.75
S13 245.25 248.00 250.75
S14 252.25 255.00 257.75
S15 259.25 262.00 264.75
S16 266.25 269.00 271.75
S17 273.25 276.00 278.75
S18 280.25 283.00 285.75
S19 287.25 290.00 292.75
S20 294.25 297.00 299.75

Hyperband

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Channel Video Carrier (MHz) QAM Carrier (MHz) Audio Carrier (MHz)
S21 303.25 306.00 308.75
S22 311.25 314.00 316.75
S23 319.25 322.00 324.75
S24 327.25 330.00 332.75
S25 335.25 338.00 340.75
S26 343.25 346.00 348.75
S27 351.25 354.00 356.75
S28 359.25 362.00 364.75
S29 367.25 370.00 372.75
S30 375.25 378.00 380.75
S31 383.25 386.00 388.75
S32 391.25 394.00 396.75
S33 399.25 402.00 404.75
S34 407.25 410.00 412.75
S35 415.25 418.00 420.75
S36 423.25 426.00 428.75
S37 431.25 434.00 436.75
S38 439.25 442.00 444.75
S39 447.25 450.00 452.75
S40 455.25 458.00 460.75
S41 463.25 466.00 468.75

Band IV

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Channel Video Carrier (MHz) QAM Carrier (MHz) Audio Carrier (MHz)
21 471.25 474.00 476.75
22 479.25 482.00 484.75
23 487.25 490.00 492.75
24 495.25 498.00 500.75
25 503.25 506.00 508.75
26 511.25 514.00 516.75
27 519.25 522.00 524.75
28 527.25 530.00 532.75
29 535.25 538.00 540.75
30 543.25 546.00 548.75
31 551.25 554.00 556.75
32 559.25 562.00 564.75
33 567.25 570.00 572.75
34 575.25 578.00 580.75
35 583.25 586.00 588.75
36 591.25 594.00 596.75
37 599.25 602.00 604.75

Band V

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Channel Video Carrier (MHz) QAM Carrier (MHz) Audio Carrier (MHz)
38 607.25 610.00 612.75
39 615.25 618.00 620.75
40 623.25 626.00 628.75
41 631.25 634.00 636.75
42 639.25 642.00 644.75
43 647.25 650.00 652.75
44 655.25 658.00 660.75
45 663.25 666.00 668.75
46 671.25 674.00 676.75
47 679.25 682.00 684.75
48 687.25 690.00 692.75
49 695.25 698.00 700.75
50 703.25 706.00 708.75
51 711.25 714.00 716.75
52 719.25 722.00 724.75
53 727.25 730.00 732.75
54 735.25 738.00 740.75
55 743.25 746.00 748.75
56 751.25 754.00 756.75
57 759.25 762.00 764.75
58 767.25 770.00 772.75
59 775.25 778.00 780.75
60 783.25 786.00 788.75
61 791.25 794.00 796.75
62 799.25 802.00 804.75
63 807.25 810.00 812.75
64 815.25 818.00 820.75
65 823.25 826.00 828.75
66 831.25 834.00 836.75
67 839.25 842.00 844.75
68 847.25 850.00 852.75
69 855.25 858.00 860.75

See also

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