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Executive Summary

1.1 This consultation aims to seek views on Ofcom’s proposals to license digital community low power relay transmitters, commonly referred to as “self help relays”. Digital self help relays, subject to spectrum availability, could help maximise the coverage and availability of digital television throughout the UK following digital switchover¹. Ofcom wants to actively seek to facilitate self help relays where they can help extend the terrestrial coverage of Public Service Broadcasting (PSBs) channels in the future.

1.2 The Home Office first introduced self helps relays in 1980, to help small communities have access to the PSB TV channels: BBC1, BBC2 and ITV, and later Channel 4, S4C and Five. The communities were too small for broadcasters to fund additional analogue relays². These schemes were usually funded by the local community and were designed to cover relatively small areas and numbers of households. Later schemes were set up (particularly in urban areas) help overcome problems with TV reception caused, for example, by new buildings such as a football stadium or high rise buildings³.

1.3 The current self help licences do not allow for digital transmission. Following digital switchover, Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) will be extended to approximately 98.5% of homes in the UK. Some communities will no longer require a self help relay, because some of the problems experienced in analogue such as “ghosting” are less likely to happen with digital transmissions. For others, Digital TV is or will be available directly via other platforms such as digital satellite, cable, or TV over broadband, and the self help relay no longer necessary. However, other communities may still have a need for a digital self help relay.

1.4 This consultation seeks to establish what interest exists in providing digital self help relays following digital switchover and also seeks views on the proposed licensing regime.

1.5 Ofcom is proposing that all existing self help operators where a relay is still needed after DSO should be able to apply for digital self help licences (subject to frequencies being available). Ofcom also proposes to make licences available for new areas where problems with reception arise, subject to spectrum availability and demand.

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1. Digital Switchover is the name given to the national programme of moving terrestrial television transmissions, received through an aerial, from analogue to digital.

2. The broadcasters at that time were only funding the adoption of relays which served communities greater than 500 households, this was subsequently reduced to communities greater than 200 households.

3. Buildings can result in poor quality terrestrial TV reception by causing low field strength of a wanted TV transmission due to shadowing, and/or delayed image interference (ghosting) due to reflections.

The full document is available below:

• Self help TV relays and digital switchover [pdf]
  Full Print Version

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