High cost of digital switchover
The five-strong team of Liberal Democrat MPs for Cornwall met last week with Bill Taylor of Digital UK, the body in charge of overseeing the switch from analogue to digital signals due to hit the Westcountry in 2009. The region is among the first to make the change, which will force all householders to replace their television and video equipment, or buy special ‘set-top’ boxes for each TV and video in the house.
Mr Taylor revealed that Digital UK expect the average cost of the switch will be £130 per household, and more for people whose aerials have to be upgraded. It’s thought that ten percent of householders across the country will need to replace their aerial to receive digital signals, and this could be a higher proportion in the Westcountry.
A set-top box costs about £40, and a high-specification digital aerial can cost as much as £150. A family with two televisions and one video will need three set-top boxes if they are to continue watching one channel, while recording another. If people have to pay for their old aerial to be checked, the total cost could be around £300.
While support is being offered to those over 75 and to people with poor sight, families on low incomes are presently expected to meet the cost without government assistance, even though the change to digital is compulsory.
Some households may end up with no picture at all, as the Government has only guaranteed that digital signals will reach those who have a good analogue service at the moment. Whereas analogue signals can provide a weak, snowy picture even in areas with poor reception, digital images are either on or off – and in many cases it seems that Westcountry viewers may well find that they are off.
Commenting after the meeting, Chair of the Liberal Democrat Team for Cornwall and South East Cornwall MP, Colin Breed said:
“I find it extraordinary that Ministers are apparently so blasé about hitting low-income families so hard in the pocket. Digital television is supposed to be about broadening access to information and entertainment. Digital UK call it “democratic” – but has anyone been asked if they mind shelling out even to carry on viewing the channels they already have?
“What is more, it’s entirely possible than some people will stop getting a signal altogether. Where is the fairness or progress in that? The Government must give some concrete guarantees that everyone in the Westcountry who watches television today, will be able to do so in 2009.”
Falmouth and Camborne MP and Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury,
Julia Goldsworthy added:
“Why the Government has seen fit to start this experiment in some of the poorest and most peripheral areas of the country I cannot begin to think. £300 may not be much to Ministers but down here in Cornwall people will really feel the pinch.
“We must make sure that the very poorest and most vulnerable are not left behind as Britain moves further into the digital age.”
