The Future of Digital Terrestrial Television

This statement concludes our consultation process initiated in November 20071 in response to a request by the Government for advice on how the MPEG-4 and DVBT2 technologies could be introduced to the DTT platform and the potential use of regulatory powers by the Government and Ofcom to bring this about.

Our consultation set out Ofcom’s statutory duties and policy objectives with specific reference to our spectrum and broadcasting duties and objectives. It also made reference to our own general regulatory principles, including that we operate with a bias against intervention - but a willingness to intervene firmly where necessary. Our consultation invited views on a range of issues and, in particular, on proposals to clear services from and upgrade one public service (i.e. universal coverage), DTT multiplex.

This statement recaps on our proposals and provides an overview of recent developments. It summarises our statutory duties and the particular policy objectives that we are pursuing in relation to the proposals that we set out in our consultation. It also provides a summary of responses to our consultation together with our views on them. We set out our conclusions and recommendations to the Government in response to its request and we then propose a series of next steps, if those recommendations are accepted.