Prompt's TechBlog

Whitehaven in Cumbria has become the first town in Britain to lose their analogue television signal. The residents of the northern town must now use digital receivers to receive their programmes. BBC News reports that now the analogue signal is not in use, the spectrum will be available for other uses.

The switchover has ignited a war over what to do with the abandoned signal space. Three major lobbying groups are involved, each of which has their own designs for the spectrum. Let's examine our combatants, shall we?

Group 1 - The Mobile Operators. The mobile phone companies believe that the spectrum will help them to enhance their services. They plan to use it to introduce high quality video to existing services. TV on a mobile? A distinct possibility.

Group 2 - The Broadcasters. This group wants to keep use the TV airwaves to broadcast high definition television channels. This means that viewers who use a freeview box will have access to HD TV channels.

Group 3 - The Internet Providers. According to the Internet Providers, the available spectrum could be used for wireless broadband services. This would open up wireless internet to a number of areas that are currently insufficiently wired.

So who's going to win? Will one group get the spectrum? Will all of them get it? Well, that decision lies with market regulator Ofcom. Ofcom has stated publicly that it will be using a market-led approach, meaning it is likely to give control of the spectrum to whoever pays the most for it.

Critics have highlighted that the group who gets control of the spectrum must act in the public interest, and I wholeheartedly agree. The most convincing argument I have read comes from the Internet Providers. I'd love more television channels, and watching Eastenders on my mobile as I travel to work would be great, but they are merely enhancements to existing services. If the Internet Providers claims that they could provide improved internet access to parts of the country are true, then this seems to me to be a good use of the spectrum.

Whichever group does win control, it's likely that we'll see a range of new services emerge in that industry. Whatever happens, it'll be interesting to watch.

I am a copywriter at Prompt and this post reflects my personal views, and does not necessarily represent those of Prompt Communications or its clients.