Electronic publishing is the dissemination by electronic means of newpapers, magazines and other information. It is generally expected to become one of the most important growth markets in the next couple of years. Since it mainly concerns one-way traffic (from publisher to subscriber, but not vice versa), existing broadcasting systems like radio and television seem ideally suited for this purpose. However, those systems were not made for transmitting other information than audio and video, which is one of the reasons that new (digital) broadcasting systems have been developed. In Europe, that are:
A second reason is that digital information can be processed in such a way that more can be transmitted than with present systems. However, these new broadcasting systems require completely new transmitters and receivers (= televisions and radios). Such a complete change can only come about slowly, which means that present systems will remain operational for at least another 15 years.
The goal is to use the present television broadcasting system as it is for transmission of digital information. To achieve this goal, a small box feeds the transmitter digital information instead of a video signal. A box after the receiver extracts the information from the television signal. That way, present transmitters can be used for the transmission of either video of other information. Because almost any household in the Netherlands is covered by the present broadcasting system, an enormous market can be easily served.