[Community Television] Labour commits to 2012 digital switchover

[Michelle McGuire]

Labour commits to 2012 digital switchover

Dominic Timms
Friday April 15, 2005

Up to now it has studiously avoided issuing a definitive date for the 
switch-off of millions of analogue TV sets because of the potential 
consumer and political backlash.
But buried away in its substantial manifesto is a promise by the Labour 
party to switch off analogue in seven years' time, 2012.

It will mean if Labour gets elected the millions of households who have 
yet to upgrade their televisions will have no choice but to splash out 
on new digital sets.

And those with second and third sets will have to decide whether they 
are prepared to do the same or lose their TV entertainment in kitchens 
and bedrooms.

Buried on page 95 of the 128-page document, Labour said it would 
"achieve digital switchover between 2008 and 2012", the first time it 
has publicly committed to the proposal.

The move, which some analysts say could cost up to £7bn, will force 
millions of households to upgrade to digital equipment to ensure they 
can continue to watch television.

"We will achieve digital switchover between 2008 and 2012, ensuring 
access to high-quality free-to-view and subscription digital TV," the 
manifesto says.

Despite warnings from consumer and other groups that forcing people to 
buy expensive equipment so they can watch TV could lead to a consumer 
backlash, the manifesto said an incoming Labour government would begin 
a "region by region" switch-off in less than three years' time.

Elderly will be protected

It also hints that it will give handouts to the poor and elderly who 
cannot afford to upgrade, something it did when it phased out the old 
405-line TV transmission service in the 1980s.

In its manifesto Labour said it would "make sure the interests of 
elderly people and other vulnerable groups are protected".

In November broadcasting minister Lord McIntosh said up to £400m should 
be spent helping the over-75s, disabled and people with poor 
English-language skills prepare for analogue switch-off.

"Today the benefits [of digital TV] cannot be enjoyed by everyone," he 
told the Westminster Forum. "There is still a divide between the 
digital haves and have-nots. We want to create a genuine digital 
democracy, where everybody has the best possible access. This is why we 
need to switch."

At the end of last month, two Welsh villages became the unlikely 
torchbearers for the new digital-only era, when they were switched to 
digital TV.

Around 460 homes in Ferryside and Llansteffan in Carmarthenshire were 
switched to digital TV in a test that will have repercussions on the 
wider nationwide rollout.

In February the media regulator Ofcom published a provisional timetable 
for switchover beginning in the Scottish borders in 2008 and ending in 
the Channel Islands in 2012, but said it needed to be approved by 
government.

Now with a future Labour administration committed to the dates, Ofcom 
is expected to publish its planning options for switchover early in the 
summer.

While six in every 10 UK homes now have some sort of digital TV, 
converting the millions of second sets and persuading a rump of digital 
TV refuseniks is likely to be an uphill task.

Earlier this month advertising agency executives branded the 2012 
switch-off date "unrealistic", saying issues with second and third sets 
and a potential political backlash could push the deadline onto 2016.

When Ofcom published its provisional timetable for switchover, consumer 
organisation Which accused the government of reneging on promises to 
ensure the switch was consumer led.

"The government's strategy to date has been we will not switch over to 
digital TV until the market has delivered," said Allan Williams, 
Which?'s senior policy adviser.

"This turns it on its head to say when we switch, the market will 
deliver. That's going from trying to persuade consumers to switch to 
forcing them," said Mr Williams, who said that current plans would hit 
the poor, the elderly and those who didn't want more TV channels.

"Consumers may see the benefits of digital television but they don't 
necessarily see the benefits of switchover. There are still concerns 
about affordability, availability and viability."

Source: Media Guardian
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1459921,00.html