Between 350 thousand and one million Bulgarians will be left without TV signal, because digital coverage won't reach them.

This is the gloomy forecast Veselin Bozhkov, Head of Bulgaria’s Commission for Communications Regulation, made after the long-delayed analogue switch-off was finally wrapped up on September 30.

Currently multiplexes cover 95% of the total number of viewers in Bulgaria, therefore the remaining 5% will be left out in “the dark” with no TV, estimated Bozhkov.

Only 16.5% of Bulgarians rely solely on the analogue signal for access to public broadcasts, according to Danail Papazov, Transport Minister.

It is not clear, however, how many of them will be left in “in the dark”.

“We will come up with solutions to no-coverage issues”, promised Papazov.

But is it not a little bit late to search for solutions, now that the analogue is already gone?

Maybe it does make sense to suspect that the DTT coverage was not set at 100% on purpose in order to benefit the business of local cable TV operators.

The truth is out there, but probably will remain in the dark, so to speak.

As for the thousands of Bulgarians left out “in the dark” too, there’s nothing else to do, but start frantically buying decoders.