It has long been considered that a common European standard for Terrestrial Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB-T) would be impossible, but thanks to a new chip technology it is becoming reality. Siemens Semiconductors and Nokia Multimedia Network Terminals signed a letter of intent for their joint development of a new, integrated receiver chip to be designed for the use in terrestrial digital TV reception equipment. Terrestrial digital services will be launched in a trial starting before end of 1997. The chip supports both the 8k and the 2k Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (COFDM) standards, enabling one type of receiver unit to be used in continental Europe, in Scandinavia and in the UK. 

The adoption of the Common Interface standard through the purchase of Nokia digital decoders for digital television by the new broadcasting company, Vía Digital, in Spain pushes forward trend towards digital TV in Europe.