Ofcom has set out plans to upgrade the hugely popular free-to-air digital TV service Freeview to make room for high definition (HD) channels to benefit the consumer and the economy.
Ofcom said that under its proposal, the service would be able to offer HD channels without needing additional radio spectrum from as early as 2009.
It predicts that the upgrade could bring benefits to the economy worth between 4 billion and 6 billion pounds over 25 years.
The transition to HDTV has been called a landmark move for the industry, similar to the shift from black and white to colour, and terrestrial broadcasters want to be able to compete with the sharply improved TV picture offered by pay-TV firms BSkyB and Virgin Media.
They had called on the government and Ofcom to reserve some of the highly sought after spectrum that will be freed up from the switchover to be used to carry HD channels on Freeview, in a bid to prevent a national “HD Divide” between those who can and those who can’t watch TV in HD.
But on Tuesday the country’s four main broadcasters, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five, said they could in fact produce the service with the currently available resources. Ofcom has said it intends to auction the released spectrum off to the highest bidder.
Ed Richards, Chief Executive of Ofcom, said the proposal to upgrade Digital Terrestrial Television, or Freeview, represented a major opportunity to build on its success with wider, richer and more varied services, including the potential for HDTV.
“We look forward to hearing the views of viewers and from right across the industry,” he said.
Ofcom said it would ask the broadcasters to come up with individual suggestions for how they would use the extra capacity in the hope that competition will result in higher standards.
Ofcom said the upgrade could roll out across the country from 2009 and result in four HD channels by 2012.
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