An independent study on the impact of radio spectrum on the UK economy has found its use to be worth more than £50 billion per year.
The report, commissioned by the Government from Analysys Mason, places TV and radio broadcasting as the highest component of value at an annual £10.8 billion or 21%.
Mobile services take 60% of the value.
Broadcasting services support a supply chain worth around £16 billion a year and support 40,000 jobs.
Analysys Mason suggests that network improvements could be introduced within DTT that would increase the attractiveness of the platform to consumers. Specifically the introduction of DVB-T2 transmission technology across the platform that would increase the number of available HDTV services.
However, it is unlikely that there will be any major shifts before 2020.
Consumers, it says, are willing to pay significantly more than the current licence fee for their TV services. Most of the value is from DTH subscription services – cable is not included in the calculation – the gain from DTT is low due to the not-for-profit nature of the BBC.
