One in four households will not be able to receive digital terrestrial television (DTT) when the BBC launches its new Freeview service later this month.
The BBC, which is launching the service in conjunction with BSkyB and Crown Castle, said that universal coverage will only be possible when the signal is strengthened in four years time after the Government switches off the existing analogue transmissions.
A spokesman for the BBC said: “When terrestrial switch-off is achieved more spectrum space will become available, allowing DTT to expand. However, this is very much a Government matter.”
Freeview, which is the successor to the now defunct ITV Digital, was never expected to reach every household and the consortium has already reduced the number of channels it intends to carry on the platform in order to improve the coverage.
It is estimated that the new service will reach 1.5 million more households than ITV Digital, however, the increased coverage will require a quarter of households to upgrade their TV aerials at a cost of between £80 and £100 on top of the £99 price of a DTT adapter.
The Freeview consortium is working to avoid the problems encountered by ITV Digital (see Signal Failure Threatens To Halt Digital Progress) and is launching an initiative to inform potential customers of the quality of the DTT signal in their area before they buy an adapter.
