Timetable issued for UK's digital switchover

16 Sep 2005

The timetable for the UK's digital switchover has been announced.

Households across the British Isles will turn from analogue to digital from 2008, with the Border region in Scotland first to switch, Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, announced.

Those in London, the south-east, the north-east and Ulster will not have to change over until 2012.

The last regions to switch will be Tyne Tees and Ulster in the second half of that year.

The BBC will help fund the cost of the changeover for the over-75s and those with significant disabilities.

Those in receipt of state benefits will also be eligible for financial assistance.

In a speech to an audience at the Royal Television Society convention in Cambridge, Mrs Jowell said digital television was no longer a probability but a certainty.

"I believe it can leave us with a legacy of more choice, for more people, than anywhere else in the world," she said.

"When a new technology comes along, governments have two choices, and only two.

"They can follow it, trying to make retrospective sense of how society is changing as a result. Or they can be ahead of the curve, shaping the future and ensuring that the fruits of technology are evenly spread. We have chosen the latter course."

It is estimated two thirds of households have access to digital TV. Nearly eight million households have gone digital to date.

In the last 12 months, some two million households have switched over, an 18.4 per cent increase year-on-year.

The switchover will be overseen by Digital UK, an independent, not-for-profit firm, which officially launches today.

Separately, Mike Ashton of the Country Land and Business Association has asked the government to help people in rural areas upgrade their TV reception before the switch-off.

He said many households in rural areas could not receive freeview, Channel Five or digital radio.