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Introduction

What is digital TV?

Your TV at home works by receiving and decoding a signal that has been sent either through the air (terrestrial), or through a cable running in to your home (cable) or from a satellite in space (satellite).
Traditionally, the signal was sent as a series of waves, either through the air or along a cable, and was called 'analogue transmission'. However, in the past ten years, technology has moved on and it is now possible to send TV pictures as millions of ones and zeros which are decoded in your TV or a set-top box on your TV. This is digital TV.

Its benefits are that it normally provides a sharper picture, clearer sound and uses much less space to send the same TV programme. Many more TV channels and programmes can be broadcast using the same airwaves or along the same cable as digital TV than as analogue TV, offering more choice.

When did digital TV start?

In the UK, digital TV started in 1998 when BSkyB began to offer its satellite customers the choice of digital reception to replace their analogue satellite dishes and set-top boxes. Soon after, ONdigital began digital terrestrial broadcasting and in 1999, cable companies began to change their customers over from analogue services to digital services.

Have I got digital TV?

If you pay for a BSkyB satellite service, or have Freeview (you get your TV through your aerial but you also have a set-top box or a TV which can receive the digital signal directly), you will already have digital TV. Most subscribers to cable TV also have digital TV. However, the cable companies have not fully completed the changeover of all their services from analogue to digital.
If you receive your TV through your aerial and receive only four or five main channels - BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 (S4C in Wales) and Five - you will still have analogue TV.
At the end of 2003, half of the UK's homes had installed digital TV and half still relied on analogue technology to receive TV.

What is digital switchover?

Digital switchover involves switching off the traditional analogue television signal that households have received for many years and replacing it with a digital signal.

What are the Government's plans?

In September 1999, the Government first announced its ambition to switch off the analogue TV signal and move to digital TV. It said the process could start as early as 2006 and so be finished by 2010.
In 1999, the Government said that switchover would not take place until the following conditions had been met.

First, that everyone who could watch the main channels in analogue form could receive them on digital systems.
Second, that switching to digital was an affordable option for almost everyone.

More recently, the Government has repeated its commitment to switchover. However, there is no set date when it expects or wants switchover to start.

What would switchover mean for me?

Switchover would mean different things to different people.

Households that cannot currently receive extra free TV channels through their aerials would gain more free TV channels. This would apply to homes where Freeview is not available.
All households wanting to use aerials to receive TV, either on their main TV set in their living room or on other sets, would have to buy a set-top box so they could continue to use their TVs if they have not done so already.
Households wanting to use their video recorders to record one programme while watching another would have to buy an extra box or a new video recorder to continue to do so.
Some households might need to buy a new aerial if their existing equipment is of poor quality.
Households who have already fully converted to cable or satellite or Freeview would not notice any big changes.

Why does switchover matter for the UK?

Switchover would give the UK many potential benefits.

It would free a large amount of the airwaves currently used to broadcast BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and Five. The airwaves used for TV broadcasting form part of what is known as the electromagnetic spectrum - or 'spectrum' for short. If switchover happens, it will release a large amount of spectrum for other uses, either more TV broadcasting or even, perhaps, mobile communications.
Consumers would gain from the new uses of the freed-up spectrum.
Without strict limits on the number of channels they can offer, broadcasters would be better able to tailor their channels and programmes for viewers.
As consumers have switched to digital TV faster in the UK than in any other country, switchover would help to cement the UK's leading position in using digital TV technology.

For these reasons, the benefits of switchover outweigh the costs of making the move that some consumers will have to pay.

Is the UK going it alone?

No. Berlin successfully switched off its analogue signal in 2003 with very little disruption. The rest of Germany and most other European countries are planning to follow its lead. In the US, plans are also in place to start switching off the analogue signal. And from 2007, all TVs sold in the US will have to include a digital converter.