Southern England Switches To All-Digital Service
Tags: Digital Choices, HD TV checker by postcode
Residents of the south of England woke up to find their analogue television signal had been switched off on Tuesday 21 March 2012 as the UK Government heads into the final stages of switching the whole union over to digital TV coverage.
Analogue transmitters at Rowridge and Whitehawk Hill were switched off overnight, meaning that viewers in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, as well as parts of Dorset and Wiltshire will have to use a set-top box or freeview-ready TV to be able to watch their favourite programmes from now on.
Viewers in those areas may find that some channels they usually receive have gone missing. This is because some channels are being moved to new frequencies as a result of the switchover but a simple retune of your TV or set-top box will restore your channel list to its former glory.
With the whole country going digital, there has never been a better time to upgrade your old fashioned cathode-ray TV to a new high definition (HD) ready set. Many electronics comparison sites, like Digital Choices for example, feature an HD TV checker that can help you find a fantastic new plasma or LCD set for a reasonable price.
Digital UK’s regional manager, Bill Taylor said: “Switchover is now complete across most of the south of England. People have responded positively to the change and hundreds of thousands of viewers can now receive Freeview for the first time.”
The only counties in the south of England that are yet to be switched over from analogue to digital are Kent and East Sussex, receivers of Meridian regional services, with conversion work in these areas scheduled to be completed by June this year.
The signal freed up by the shutting down of analogue TV services is expected to be auctioned off to mobile providers at the end of the year and used to support 4G mobile broadband services. Communications industry regulator Ofcom is currently finalising the terms and conditions under which the auction will take place.
Once the Meridian area is switched over, the last remaining regions to be switched are London, Northern Ireland and the Tyne Tees area.
Roadshows are currently taking place around the country to assist the public with the more confusing aspects of the switchover, with Dorchester, Lymington, Poole, Romsey, Ryde, Southampton and Winchester all on the tour’s schedule. Stands will be erected in shopping outlets and town centres with experts on hand to impart advice and offer guidance on any digital TV issues.
Details of when these switches will be taken place can be found on the Government’s Digital UK promotional materials and website.
Press Release Produced by: admin From PR Services.
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