Set-Top Box Manufacturer Joins Calls For Government To Push Digital

Malcolm Miller, CEO of Pace Technology, which makes set top boxes for the digital TV industry, said: “More action is needed to encourage consumers to switch to digital. If we are to take the lead the Government has to think about funding it. That could mean cheaper TV licences for digital TV or paying for digital adapters; in the end somebody’s going to have to foot the bill.”

A spokesperson for the company added: “The UK is currently leading the world market as far as digital TV is concerned and if this is to continue the Government needs to set positive targets and maintain the momentum it has already gathered. The UK has the potential to be world’s centre of excellence if we continue to drive forward.”

The comments come in the wake of demands from the broadcasting industry to speed up the digital switch-over. Chief executive of ITV, Stuart Prebble, recently accused the government of not doing enough to aid the switch.

Earlier this month the UK Government reiterated the message that analogue services will be switched off by 2010. The digital switchover is reliant on 95% of the population having access to digital TV, meaning that services must be available and affordable to the vast majority of the population.

Currently BSkyB has 5.5 million digital subscribers, dominating the market. NTL has 1 million customers, putting the company a close third behind ITV Digital at 1.1 million. Telewest has 564,000 homes connected to its DTV service.

Merrill Lynch Forecasts For UK Cable And Satellite Penetration
(figures in 000s)	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
No. UK TV Households	23,710	23,915	24,102	24,283	24,465	24,648	24,833	25,019	25,207	25,396	25,587	25,779
Total UK DTH & Cable & DTT Subscribers	6,027	6,389	7,809	9,569	11,149	12,732	14,442	15,844	17,200	18,464	19,448	20,340
Total Digital Pay TV Subscribers		244	2,737	6,521	9,262	11,650	14,058	15,713	17,063	18,389	19,373	20,265
Total Digital TV Homes		244	2,737	6,571	9,962	13,100	16,258	18,663	20,763	22,839	24,573	25,779
BSkyB Penetration Of UK H/holds %	15	14	16	20	24	26	28	28	28	29	29	29
Broadband Cable Penetration Of UK H/holds %	10	12	14	15	16	18	20	22	24	27	28	29
OnDigital Penetration Of UK H/holds %		0	2	4	6	7	8	9	10	10	11	11
DSL Penetration Of UK H/holds %				0	0	1	3	4	6	7	8	9
Total DTH,B.Cable,OnDigital & DSL Pen. Of UK % HHs	25	26	32	39	45	51	58	63	68	72	76	79
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) Subscribers				9	43	206	609	1,001	1,379	1,720	2,020	2,279
Total Cable (in 000s)	2,541	3,012	3,422	3,662	3,986	4,461	4,995	5,601	6,225	6,808	7,223	7,598
Broadband Cable Penetration %	22	24	26	27	28	29	29	30	31	32	33	33
BSkyB Analogue	3,486	3,133	1,796	257
BSkyB Digital		225	2,064	4,667	5,771	6,372	6,860	7,024	7,171	7,305	7,425	7,534
DTT (Digital Terrestrial TV) Subscribers		19	527	975	1,349	1,692	1,978	2,218	2,424	2,632	2,780	2,930
UK Broadband Cable Subscribers	2,374	2,826	3,245	3,586	3,911	4,386	4,919	5,526	6,150	6,732	7,148	7,523
UK Narrowband Cable Subscribers	81	89	27
Cable Digital			146	870	2,098	3,379	4,611	5,471	6,089	6,732	7,148	7,523
Cable Analogue	2,374	2,826	3,099	2,716	1,813	1,007	308	55	62
% of Pay TV Subs that are Digital		4	35	68	83	92	97	99	99	100	100	100
% of TV Homes that are Digital		1	11	27	41	53	66	75	82	90	96	100
BSkyB Res DTH (Growth)	4	-4	15	28	17	10	8	2	2	2	2	2
Broadband Cable (Growth)	27	19	15	11	9	12	12	12	11	10	6	5
ONdigital TV (Growth)				85	38	25	17	12	9	9	6	5
Source: Merrill Lynch estimates