Broadcasters held their own at the annual DTG Summit amid new Ofcom powers to facilitate dynamic spectrum access.
Speaking at the annual DTG Summit, culture minister Ed Vaizey said the UHF spectrum currently used for the Freeview DTT service was “a resource that is massively in demand because of the need for data capacity”.
Vaizey referred to the Future of Innovation in Technology Taskforce (FITT), facilitated by the DTG, and the three options for the future of television delivery currently under discussion. The first is a limited DTT offering, which Vaizey said he would not support, the second to develop DTT alongside cable, satellite and IPTV and a third option to maintain the status quo.
“This is not an immediate issue, but highlights why the FITT Taskforce is needed,” he said. “If we get it wrong we will severely damage a very valuable Eco systems which at the moment allows both quality and choice to flourish.”
Addressing concern from a BBC delegate that the corporation would either have to pay the additional costs under the new spectrum pricing scheme or use the licence fee to upgrade the latest technologies, Vaizey said there should not be any exceptions, but the Ofcom consultation currently underway should take into account how the spectrum is used.
Wendy McMillan, group strategy and business development director, Arqiva, said it was crucial that the 700MHz frequency clearance in favour of broadband technology, was handled correctly. “If you went to a model where it was just the core BBC channels, it makes the basic channels available, but it’s not competitive,” she said. “We want to see a strong vibrant free to air community.”
Ilse Howling, the Freeview managing director, positioned the DTT platform as a national treasure on which other services, including YouView, were built. “The greater the number of people watching Freeview, the greater the advertising, the greater support of the licence fee and therefore the greater the commissioning budgets…I’m worried the true implications are not yet being considered.”
She highlighted the current DTT specification mandates an Ethernet cable, thus allowing connectivity to broadband delivered services. “If you project 10 years forward it is completely unrealistic to think that broadband will be driving universal free to air access in the way that DTT does.”
She added that to force Freeview to stay as it was would let down the millions who have bought into the product.
