One In Four Households Will Not Receive New DTT Service
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 (see Freeview Digital Service Will Launch 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 (see ITV Digital Will Be Sold As ‘Going Concern’), 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 and is launching an initiative to inform potential customers of the quality of the DTT signal in their area before they buy an adapter.
It has been reported that the BBC, BSkyB and Crown Castle will each contribute between £1m and £2m to Freeview’s marketing budget. In addition, the BBC is thought to have earmarked £1m to advertise it own digital channels, which will also be promoted via its analogue services.
BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk BSkyB: 020 7705 3000 www.sky.com
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