From my North Norfolk News column, April 2008. This lightly edited archive text preserves the information, forecasts and prices discussed at the time; it is not current advice about digital television.
There have been a lot of stories lately about the digital television switchover, and recent reports suggest that 220,000 homes will be unable to get a digital television signal by the time the analogue signal is switched off.
For those unfamiliar with this switchover, the Government has proposed that by 2011 all analogue television signals will be switched off in Norfolk, and the alternative will be digital television.
As a self-confessed geek, it’s one of the areas I specialise in knowing a bit about, and I’m quite surprised more hasn’t been done to inform residents of Norfolk about it all.
Norfolk is mostly dominated by the elderly, and there was enough fuss about trying to receive Channel 5 when it launched back in 1997. Considering we only have three years before this all takes place, I firmly believe there should be more happening to warn those that live here.
For a start, people will need to decide how they are going to receive a digital television signal, and there’s a fair amount of choice. Firstly, there’s Freeview. A service that offers around thirty channels for no other cost than what you pay for the receiver box. This comes at the price of around £20, which for many will be pretty reasonable.
However, the problems begin when you have a large amount of televisions in your home, for example if you have children with televisions in their bedroom. These will all need to be converted. The service has also been criticised for having a patchy service in deepest darkest Norfolk, and this may cause problems if you cannot get a good signal now.
I live in Holt, and I was advised by the Freeview website that I could not receive the service. However, I risked it and bought a box. I have very few problems apart from when there is bad weather. It doesn’t make it ideal, but it adds something extra to the television in my bedroom.
Meanwhile, electrical retailers are doing their bit by selling more televisions with boxes integrated inside, and I would say this is the ideal option for the elderly, if they can get a signal. It means that there is no need to worry about a second remote and it is possible to remove the channels that one doesn’t require.
There are other options though, and this includes Sky television through a satellite dish, and Sky+ which allows you to record television too. These are both subscription based services, although they do offer more choice. There is also digital cable, but this is unlikely to be an option for us in north Norfolk because we don’t live near a city.
The problem with the switchover currently lies in the fact very few of us actually know what is going on, and the last thing the elderly will be worrying about is this, especially when they are swanning around England with their free bus passes.
The government may be informing us the time is coming through television adverts, but all these tell us is that you need to go online to find out more information. But not everyone is online, and these are the ones that will be affected the most. They don’t have the resources there to help them and sales representatives at electrical stores will say anything to get you to buy their products.
The list of problems could go on, but I don’t think I am the one who will make a difference here. Our MPs shouldn’t just be moaning about the lack of Freeview coverage in the House of Commons, they should also be arguing that the information isn’t there for us all. Until every resident in Norfolk receives black and white information in the post, I fear not enough of us will be clued up by 2011.