Ofcom has given permission to the BBC and Arqiva to jointly market new capacity on the UK terrestrial system.
The BBC has gained capacity on Multiplex B ahead of the regional rollout of high definition services, while Arqiva will have new capacity on Multiplexes C and D following technical upgrades during the digital switchover process.
By jointly marketing the capacity two national channels will be created in the near-term rather than after the completion of digital switchover in 2012. The BBC had already placed an advertisement for the UK channels at the end of October.
In part the BBC capacity has been created by the removal of two interactive streams, including the BBC News Multiscreen, when the corporation’s services were reshuffled ahead of the terrestrial launch of BBC HD. However, the new configuration would have been the interactive channels would no longer have been available nationwide.
