Many households remain unable to watch private television channels through their aerials following the transition to the new Hellas Sat terrestrial digital television platform, with problems continuing several days after the switch.
Speaking to Alpha Cyprus, Andronikos Kakkouras, deputy director of the Department of Electronic Communications, acknowledged that the Hellas Sat call centre had received a very high volume of calls from the first day of the transition.
He said around 1,600 calls were recorded on the first day, of which about 1,100 were answered. On the second day, calls dropped to around 1,100, with the response rate reaching 90 per cent.
According to Kakkouras, in most cases the problem does not appear to be with the new platform’s network, but with the equipment used by households. Many television sets simply need to be retuned, while older models that do not support the DVB-T2 standard require an external decoder.
Other problems are linked to ageing wiring or aerials that have shifted over time and now need to be adjusted by a technician.
A separate issue has been identified with TCL television sets imported into Cyprus through the Greek market. Kakkouras said users in those cases can try changing the country setting on the television from Greece to the United Kingdom, Ireland or another European country, before retuning the device. The solution has worked in a number of cases, he said, although it does not resolve every problem.
Households that still cannot receive a signal after retuning are being advised to have their installation checked by a technician to determine whether the fault lies with the aerial, internal wiring or decoder. Hellas Sat is also providing a second technical support line for installers to help identify and resolve problems more quickly.
Consumer Complaints Over Costs
The transition has also prompted complaints over the costs being passed on to consumers, particularly elderly people who have had to buy decoders or pay technicians to set up their equipment.
Virginia Christou, legal adviser to the Cyprus Consumers Association, said the association is receiving daily complaints about both the transition process and cases involving decoders that allegedly stopped working shortly after being installed.
She said there had been reports of decoders sparking or making a small explosive sound before failing. Consumers were urged to keep their purchase receipts and report such cases to the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department so they can be investigated.
Christou also referred to complaints about excessive charges. In one case, an elderly woman reportedly paid €90 for each of two televisions in her home for decoders to be installed and tuned.
Viewers who continue to face problems can contact the Hellas Sat call centre on 22 000 737, which operates daily from 9am to 9pm. They can also contact the Department of Electronic Communications on 22 814854 during public service working hours.
The new DVB-T2 platform came fully into operation on July 1, 2026, replacing the previous Velister platform. The change affects only viewers who receive television through an aerial.
For manual tuning, the new frequencies are channels 35 and 48 across Cyprus, while channels 23 and 26 are used in the free areas of Famagusta district.
