But it's not exactly a hidden agenda is it - if you read the documentation it is clear this is the strategy.
So although many here are downplaying the sale of the 700MHz spectrum, if the government can repeat the trick of the current 4G auction in 8 years time you can be damn sure they will.
I don't see any hidden agenda. They're being pretty open about it and we've been discussing it here for some time.
We now know that the earliest the 700Mhz clearance will hapen is 2019. That's six years from now and it'll be virtually ten years since the first areas went through DSO, and the date might slip further. As far as I can see, it's still dependent on what happens elsewhere in Europe. If the rest of Europe agrees to clear broadcasting from that part of the spectrum it would be seen as odd if Ofcom said that the UK won't. They aren't leading this but can see which way the wind is blowing elsewhere and have drawn up plans accordingly.
BBC Three/CBBC
BBC Four/CBeebies
Channel 5
Any if the UKTV channels maybe?
Any ideas?
Channel 4 will certainly have two channels, seeing as they have already produced a joint proposal.
I doubt if the BBC would entertain the idea of Channel 5, seeing as this is a time-limited proposal with a short time to go live (if you know what i mean )
As for any other channels, that might be up to Arqiva.
There may not even be the full 10 HD channels anyway.
Very interesting. Around here many people would have to switch from a grp c/d aerial to a wideband aerial plus a new box to receive the new channels from Mendip. This would certainly be an insentive for me to replace my STB's with HD or Mpeg4 boxes.
So a few extra channels for a few Lucky people. We saw this before. Why do they bother doing this? Why not Just get the new hardware in place over all the country then switch it on so everyone gets it once the power is switched on.
Or Just use satellite, surely carrige cost must b a fraction the cost of all that new groundbased hardware.
So a few extra channels for a few Lucky people. We saw this before. Why do they bother doing this? Why not Just get the new hardware in place over all the country then switch it on so everyone gets it once the power is switched on.
Or Just use satellite, surely carrige cost must b a fraction the cost of all that new groundbased hardware.
They don't know for sure they're going to have to clear 700Mhz yet - if not, there's scope for a wider use of this part of the band but at the moment this is very much an opportunity for a limited period, probably at a cost to anyone taking it up - i.e it will not make a profit - so it has to be as inexpensive as possible.
Not ideal but better than nothing, and it might play a small part in speeding up the eventual changeover to DVB-T2.
So a few extra channels for a few Lucky people. We saw this before. Why do they bother doing this? Why not Just get the new hardware in place over all the country then switch it on so everyone gets it once the power is switched on.
Or Just use satellite, surely carrige cost must b a fraction the cost of all that new groundbased hardware.
The BBC does not manage, build or upgrade the transmitters - commercial companies do.
And i would guess that, given the need to get this up and running asap, there would be no time to get a national upgrade/installtion programme planned and completed and leave enough time for the whole process to be worthwhile
Very interesting. Around here many people would have to switch from a grp c/d aerial to a wideband aerial plus a new box to receive the new channels from Mendip. This would certainly be an insentive for me to replace my STB's with HD or Mpeg4 boxes.
C/D aerials might well work OK if the signal is reasonable - as this chart from Justin Aerial's site shows, their sensitivity drops off very gradually and they can be effective a long way below the part of the band they were intended for.
If the Arqiva-BBC-C4 venture is the only bidder (which is quite likely), then we will see channels from C4 (probably up to two of More4/Film4/E4) and one BBC channel (BBC3 or BBC4), and possibly the return of 301 HD, plus whatever commercial channels Arqiva can get on board (Dave HD, QVC HD are good bets for starters).
I don't see 301 HD - a part-time channel, broadcasting stuff which isn't always in anything like HD (PQ on the old F1 tapes leaves something to be desired for example) as driving take-up of T2. And if the BBC had the money/will for BBC One HD, BBC Two HD & BBC HD we would have them already - the space is there, after all.
So it's more likely to be HD channels which don't yet exist, or which aren't tied in to long-term carriage deals with Sky, in my opinion.
But whatever they are, they have to be channels which make people *want* to swap over voluntarily, so that the threshold is reached at which point it becomes mandatory.
I don't see 301 HD - a part-time channel, broadcasting stuff which isn't always in anything like HD (PQ on the old F1 tapes leaves something to be desired for example) as driving take-up of T2. And if the BBC had the money/will for BBC One HD, BBC Two HD & BBC HD we would have them already - the space is there, after all.
So it's more likely to be HD channels which don't yet exist, or which aren't tied in to long-term carriage deals with Sky, in my opinion.
It just gives people more of a reason to get rid of the old DVB-T only receivers so that every MUX can be converted to T2/MPEG4 at some point. Showing there are more HD channels out there can only be a good thing, as long of course, as the improved bandwidth i used to maintain picture quality.
It just gives people more of a reason to get rid of the old DVB-T only receivers so that every MUX can be converted to T2/MPEG4 at some point. Showing there are more HD channels out there can only be a good thing, as long of course, as the improved bandwidth i used to maintain picture quality.
Well, this document makes it pretty clear that it is about encouraging the uptake of DVB-T2 kit, with a view to assisting the migration of homes from DVB-T to DVB-T2
Comments
Thin edge of the wedge for Digital Switch Over Part 2
But it's not exactly a hidden agenda is it - if you read the documentation it is clear this is the strategy.
So although many here are downplaying the sale of the 700MHz spectrum, if the government can repeat the trick of the current 4G auction in 8 years time you can be damn sure they will.
We now know that the earliest the 700Mhz clearance will hapen is 2019. That's six years from now and it'll be virtually ten years since the first areas went through DSO, and the date might slip further. As far as I can see, it's still dependent on what happens elsewhere in Europe. If the rest of Europe agrees to clear broadcasting from that part of the spectrum it would be seen as odd if Ofcom said that the UK won't. They aren't leading this but can see which way the wind is blowing elsewhere and have drawn up plans accordingly.
Channel 4 will certainly have two channels, seeing as they have already produced a joint proposal.
I doubt if the BBC would entertain the idea of Channel 5, seeing as this is a time-limited proposal with a short time to go live (if you know what i mean
As for any other channels, that might be up to Arqiva.
There may not even be the full 10 HD channels anyway.
Isn't that something that some Sky Sales reps have reportedly said previously regarding DSO?
Or Just use satellite, surely carrige cost must b a fraction the cost of all that new groundbased hardware.
They don't know for sure they're going to have to clear 700Mhz yet - if not, there's scope for a wider use of this part of the band but at the moment this is very much an opportunity for a limited period, probably at a cost to anyone taking it up - i.e it will not make a profit - so it has to be as inexpensive as possible.
Not ideal but better than nothing, and it might play a small part in speeding up the eventual changeover to DVB-T2.
I took it as something predicting what could happen based upon previous experience/evidence
The BBC does not manage, build or upgrade the transmitters - commercial companies do.
And i would guess that, given the need to get this up and running asap, there would be no time to get a national upgrade/installtion programme planned and completed and leave enough time for the whole process to be worthwhile
C/D aerials might well work OK if the signal is reasonable - as this chart from Justin Aerial's site shows, their sensitivity drops off very gradually and they can be effective a long way below the part of the band they were intended for.
http://www.aerialsandtv.com/tvaerialtests.html#AerialGroupsGraph
I don't see 301 HD - a part-time channel, broadcasting stuff which isn't always in anything like HD (PQ on the old F1 tapes leaves something to be desired for example) as driving take-up of T2. And if the BBC had the money/will for BBC One HD, BBC Two HD & BBC HD we would have them already - the space is there, after all.
So it's more likely to be HD channels which don't yet exist, or which aren't tied in to long-term carriage deals with Sky, in my opinion.
But whatever they are, they have to be channels which make people *want* to swap over voluntarily, so that the threshold is reached at which point it becomes mandatory.
Gary
I'm just quoting from this: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/uhf-strategy/responses/BBC_Channel_4_Arqiva.pdf
It just gives people more of a reason to get rid of the old DVB-T only receivers so that every MUX can be converted to T2/MPEG4 at some point. Showing there are more HD channels out there can only be a good thing, as long of course, as the improved bandwidth i used to maintain picture quality.
Well, this document makes it pretty clear that it is about encouraging the uptake of DVB-T2 kit, with a view to assisting the migration of homes from DVB-T to DVB-T2