IT IS not a part of the world which pays close attention to the passage of time. But the clock is ticking in the Scottish Borders, which will be one of the first parts of Britain to switchover to digital television.
Conventional analogue television pictures will be switched off in the ITV Border region from October.
The town of Whitehaven, on the wind-lashed Cumbrian coast, will be the first affected, followed by the whole of south-eastern Scotland, served b
y the Selkirk transmitter, in 2008 and finally Cumbria, Dumfries & Galloway and the Isle of Man, served by the Caldbeck transmitter, in 2009.
The changes, which will come to the rest of Scotland in 2010, should be straightforward: 80 per cent of British homes already have one digital television.
But despite an intensive awareness campaign by industry-funded switchover body Digital UK, there are signs that the digital dream could still become a nightmare.
Some households remain unaware of the need to get a new television at all, while others are physically or financially unable to make the change. Half of all viewers in the Border region cannot yet receive digital signals at all - making the purchase of a new television pointless until much nearer the change deadline. And video recorders (VCRs) will be rendered useless once the analogue signal is switched off.
"We're down to the residual households who either haven't understood that they need to switch, don't think they need to, or for whatever reason simply can't," said Joe Smithies, a Digital UK spokesman.
Electrical stores in parts of Cumbria which are among the first to switch have reported customers who still do not realise that each television in their house will require a digital box and possibly a new aerial.
There are also fears that customers in the Borders may lose out on lower prices for digital televisions because the cost is unlikely to fall until the rest of Britain approaches the deadlines as far away as 2012.
The cost per household was put at £132, but Digital UK now says such as figure is "so arbitrary as to be misleading because every household is different". While some households will only have to change one television or perhaps even just one aerial, many small businesses, particularly hotels and B&Bs, face a bill for dozens of new televisions in guest rooms.
There are four ways of getting digital, depending on where you live: through an aerial using either a digital box or a television with a built-in digital tuner; by satellite; through a cable, or over broadband. A postcode checker on the Digital UK website will help narrow down the available options.
When it comes to selecting a digital service, there are a range of options including a simple one-off payment for a digital box or free-to-view satellite service, through to monthly subscriptions packages offering premium sport and movies. For a typical home with two television sets and a video recorder, the cost of switching would be in the region of £100-150 according to industry regulator, Ofcom. A small percentage of roof-top aerials will need replacing, which can cost £80 to £150. Around half of television set top aerials (typically used with smaller portable televisions) will need replacing at a cost of £10-£40.
Already becoming obsolete with the advent of digital storage packages which automatically download hours of television at the touch of a button, VCRs will finally cease to be useful when the analogue signal disappears because they contain a separate analogue tuner. The only programmes recordable after 2010 will be those being watched on the television at the same time.
Undoubtedly the switch to digital will benefit most viewers by widening the range of channels and programmes. The choice of the ITV Border region as the first to switch is a sensible one. Although nightly news programme Lookaround remains one of the most popular of its kind in Britain, the task of producing programmes of interest to the diverse political and sporting loyalties of Scotland, England and the Isle of Man has always been a challenge, particularly for a station never over-endowed with resources (it only got its first dedicated live satellite lorry in 2005).
Border has an enormously loyal following. But in complex regions, digital television means viewers can get the news they want through their digital package rather than being "trapped" by accident of geography with a news service they might not want. "It will eliminate a number of anomalies that have existed across the country and matter to a lot of viewers," said Mr Smithies.
Each transmitter switch will take about four weeks. BBC2 will be the first channel to disappear, freeing up bandwidth and capacity on the airwaves to enable engineers to launch the full range of digital channels and boost digital services. After that, the analogue service will be switched off completely, which will result in radio spectrum being freed up for other uses; this is being called the digital dividend by the regulator Ofcom.
There is some debate over what this should be used for, with possible uses including mobile television, additional digital television capacity, wireless broadband or mobile phone signals. Ofcom's proposal is to hold a public auction to sell the spectrum to the highest bidders. However, there is currently a public consultation on this.
Help for
elderly to see the difference in programming
SOME o
f those living in the Borders have already switched over to digital television.
Jean Honeyman, 73, of Tweedbank, switched to digital television a year ago after attending a meeting where Digital UK's regional manager, John Askew, spoke to the annual meeting of Scottish Borders Elder Voice about the switch.
She chose a digital-ready television set and a Sky package and is pleased with the results, since she had suffered from poor reception on her television before.
"An engineer came to set up all the equipment for me and although it took me a few hours to get used to using the new remote controls, I think it's relatively easy to use and understand.
"Since I've switched I've had access to a wider range of channels and better sound and picture quality. I enjoy watching more natural history programmes, news, documentaries and period dramas since the switch."
But not everyone will find digital switchover straightforward and some people may need extra support. The government has implemented a Digital Switchover Help Scheme worth £600 million to assist about seven million homes across Britain. The scheme will cover all households in which one person, at the time of switchover, is either aged over 75, has a significant disability or is registered blind or partially sighted. Each household will get enough equipment to convert one television set, help with installation and an aerial replacement if required.
The help will be free to the eligible households: those receiving income support, job seeker's allowance or pension credit. Other eligible households will be expected to pay a contribution towards the cost of the support.
Households will be able to choose subscription services, but they will need to provide their own funding to pay for such options beyond the initial set up.
They will be able to choose to receive their help directly from the service operator rather than going to the main scheme operator.
For those who choose a non-subscription option, there will be a network of trained and accredited installers to help deal with all queries. The subsidies provided by the scheme will also be applicable to integrated digital TV sets (IDTVs) and digital TV recorders.
The full article contains 1279 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
