Switch Off Analogue Tv Switch On Digital Tv Uk

[Gregg Lengling]

wants digital switchover by 2007
THE deadline is set. By 2012, older TV sets in the UK won't work anymore because the analogue signals will be switched off.

And the plan is to get the UK fully digital by 2007.

Currently about half of UK homes have digital television, mostly through cable subsription.

The UK government wants to switch the country to digital television to free up scarce broadcast spectrum. It also wants to encourage technology that allows for more channels, a clearer signal and interactive features.

In Singapore, viewers can already watch digital TV on cable.

But so far, no deadline has been set on when the analogue signal will be turned off.

In the UK, broadcasting authority Ofcom issued proposals that ITV, Channel Four and Channel Five - the three terrestrial broadcasters apart from the BBC - should be obliged to provide digital coverage 'that is at least substantially the same' as existing analogue coverage.

Broadcasters would be forced to comply with a Dec 31, 2012 deadline to turn off their analogue signals.

NO EASY TASK

Digital switchover is no easy task.

If it is handled badly, any households that haven't made the change by the time analogue signals are turned off will end up with no television.

A substantial fraction of the country cannot receive a signal for Freeview, the least expensive, subscription-free digital option and the one that has grown the fastest since its launch.

The average UK household also has more than two televisions and some have four or five, requiring the eventual switchover of 80 or 90 million devices. Freeview may eventually be built into all new television sets, speeding up adoption.

There are also other emerging options such as Sky's forthcoming free satellite offering and the TV-over-phone lines platform HomeChoice which could help the UK achieve the 2012 deadline.