Analogue switch-off, digital choices

Between now and 2012 we’ll all have to go digital with our televisions. Ian Macrae asks what choices are available to us once analogue switch-off happens

It may sound like your worst nightmare. You go to bed one night after cocoa and the epilogue, you wake up the next day, your telly doesn’t work any more. But of course, in these days of 24/7 channels, rolling news and wider choice it won’t be like that. In reality, saying goodbye to analogue should mean waking up to a bright new digital dawn. It also doesn’t mean that your trusty old analogue set will no longer work, it just needs to be made capable of receiving the new digital services. As with many things, the secret is in being prepared.

Analogue switch-off isn’t just about more choice of channels though there are lots more of those. You can also choose how you receive the digital services and how much you want to pay.

The cheapest long-term option is Freeview. You make a one-off purchase of a set-top box which plugs into your existing TV and gives you access to up to 35 “Free-To-Air” TV channels, including the mainstream ones from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5, plus a large number of radio stations, some of them only available digitally. You can buy a Freeview box for under £20 from your local supermarket, though more sophisticated and expensive versions are also available. And that’s it. No frills, no monthly subscriptions. Receiving Freeview does rely on having a good aerial and you may need to upgrade your existing one.

Another option is to have your service delivered by cable from Virgin Media. Here, and with the satellite option from Sky, the number of channels will depend on which of their packages you opt for, which will also determine how much you pay each month.

An additional incentive for taking the Freeview option may be the help scheme, set up and run by the BBC, which was given responsibility for rolling out the whole digital switchover programme. Under this scheme, many elderly and disabled people are offered provision and installation of a selected Freeview box at a fixed, one-off rate of £40. If you qualify for the scheme and are also on low income signified by particular benefits, you may be entitled to the box and installation free. The scheme has not plumped exclusively for one particular set-top box. Instead it has drawn up a list of required functions which include audio description and subtitling available at the touch of a button.

In the next issue, we’ll take a closer look at how the switch-over worked in reality for disabled people in Whitehaven and look ahead to how things go in the Scottish Borders, the next region to go totally digital.

• More info on Digital Switchover at www.digitaluk.org

• Help Scheme fact sheet at www.disability now.org.uk