Freeview HDTV boxing match begins

COMMUNICATIONS WATCHDOG, OFCOM's plans to flog off the publicly-owned spectrum required to show HD signals on Freeview to the highest bidder have caused a bunch of companies to get their knickers in a twist.

According to them, the current plan means that Freeview viewers who have bought HD-Ready TV sets will be forced to pay for a satellite or cable subscription if they want to watch HD television.

They want the spectrum freed up by the Government's push to go digital to be used to push HDTV signals to the nine million or so Freeview boxes already out in the wild.

The pressure group - called HDforAll - has backers that include the big five terrestrial channels plus retailers such as the Dixons group and Comet, plus telly makers the likes of Sony and Samsung. Obviously, the latter want us to buy as many HDTVs as we can manage.

They reckon, "High Definition (HD) television is one of the most significant events in television since the introduction of colour."

They've bunged a petition on the governments daft petitions website here. The government replied essentially telling them to bog off.

"The Government recognises that HD is one of many applications that could utilise spectrum released by Digital Switchover.

"Like Ofcom," it notes, "the Government believes that technology-neutral auctions offer the most effective way of allocating spectrum. However, we also accept Ofcom's view that some applications generate benefits for society, and that it is vital that these benefits continue to be captured in a world where spectrum if a flexible, market-based resource." µ

L'INQs
hdforall.org.uk
OFCOM