DIGITAL TV SWITCHOVER

The digital TV switchover could cost families as much as £2,000 each. The bill emerged as Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell set out the timetable for phasing out the existing analogue signal starting in 2008. Households will have to invest in new equipment, set-top boxes, satellite dishes, cable links or TV or aerial upgrades, or see their screens go blank. Tories warned the dash for digital was a 'leap in the dark' which could mean people being unable to watch the Olympics in 2012.

The Treasury stands to make billions of pounds from the switch by auctioning off frequency space used by the old analogue signal, possibly to mobile phone companies. The Government admitted it had no idea how much the exercise was likely to cost the public. But it recently spent more than £1m converting 475 homes in a trial in Wales. That represents more than £2,100 per house. The cost will be made up of a combination of buying a set-top box, installing better aerials, laying cable and labour. There may be further expense associated with calling out experts to deal with any problems.

Middle-class families will also face a substantial hike in their licence fee to help subsidise concessions for the elderly, disabled and unemployed. Speaking at the Royal Television Society convention in Cambridge, Miss Jowell revealed that the first region to have its analogue signal switched off would be the sparsely populated Border TV area covering Cumbria and the Borders. That will happen in 2008. Ulster will be the last area to switch off in 2012, with London expected to make the leap earlier that year, around the time of the Olympics. Miss Jowell also announced a package of practical and financial support for the needy.

Old and severely disabled viewers will receive free equipment and help with installation, giving them access to Freeview, the BBC-backed digital terrestrial television. There will also be handouts for the unemployed, with subsidies for those on income support or jobseeker's allowance. Miss Jowell was short on detail of how the subsidies would be paid for. The BBC licence fee is earmarked to cover the bulk of the cost of switching to digital, which is likely to send it soaring from 2007. But with as many as five million people in Britain aged over 75 or with disabilities, taxpayers could face a massive additional bill to meet any shortfall.

A report by the Trade Department calculated the digital switchover, including the cost to broadcasters and consumers, would be between £4.5 and £5billion over the next decade.Miss Jowell said, "Digital television is no longer a probability, it is a certainty, and I believe it can leave us with a legacy of more choice for more people than anywhere else in the world. When a new technology comes along, governments have two choices: they can follow it, trying to make retrospective sense of how society is changing as a result; or they can be ahead of the curve, shaping the future and ensuring that the fruits of technology are evenly spread. We have chosen the latter course."

But Conservatives warned that the switch risked depriving some people of the chance to watch the Olympics if they failed to buy a dish or digital box in time. Despite the provision for the elderly, pressure groups expressed concern about the way the Government was pushing ahead. David Sinclair, of Help the Aged, said, "Switchover will inevitably be a confusing process for many people. In a recent survey, 57% of older people saw digital television as a threat. The Government has a job to do to make the case to older people in clear, easy-tounderstand terms." Just over 50% of households have already bought digital equipment, but the take-up rate appears to be slowing. Worryingly for the Government, the appetite for the new technology among the remainder of the population is untested and unknown. (Source: Mail on Sunday)

As the Government prepares to switch over to digital media, they will be switching off the old analogue system, but did you know, that’s what you use when you’re using radio microphones, or you’re a band and you have a talkback/foldback monitor to hear yourself, or if you use a wireless comms system?

Turning it off means you won’t be able to use them at: school / church / am dram groups / gigs / community gatherings, etc. Other things that will be effected: TV programs / West End and other theatre producers / professional shows / concerts, etc, the list goes on and on!

OFCOM want to sell the analogue band to off, which means huge, wealthy companies like Vodafone, Sky, etc, could buy it and charge for licences for it’s use! You might have to pay to use a radio microphone, etc, or go back to using microphones with cables.

As part of the Digital Dividend Review, OFCOM has announced plans to sell off the analogue UHF TV band. This band is also heavily used for so called program making and special events, covering usage of radio microphone, radio talkback/foldback, and wireless comms systems. We'll see the return to cabled mics on the West End stage and popular TV programs becoming unworkable. There are also implications for the 2012 Olympics. During the 2004 Olympics for example, in excess of 300 channels could be in use in a single stadium, difficult even with the currently available spectrum. Without the availability of radio mics in the West End, it is likely that much of the musical theatre will cease. Overall, the impact on UK PLC of the loss of this spectrum would be immense, impacting on everything from church services through to the Olympic Games.

Jamie Robinson has set up a petition against this at: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/PMSEspectrum

(Source: Artsphere UK Online Arts Directory)