Ofcom, broadcasters to meet over HD

[popper]

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitalt...er-hd.html?rss
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Tuesday, April 17 2007, 15:24 BST

By James Welsh, International Editor Ofcom will meet with the UK's major broadcasters to discuss the future of high definition services on digital terrestrial television.

The media regulator and broadcasters are at odds over whether spectrum currently used for analogue services should be at least partially reserved for HD on digital terrestrial or auctioned off for other purposes.

Ofcom maintains that there is sufficient capacity for up to 6 HD channels to be launched on DTT in addition to a spectrum auction, while the broadcasters and many MPs are worried that such an auction would make the provision of free-to-air HD on digital terrestrial unlikely."

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"We have got no interest in having a fight on the matter," Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards told the media select committee today. "We have set up meetings with broadcasters to discuss this in detail over the next couple of weeks. It is not a matter of ideology for us. It is a matter of technical fact.
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[popper]

i finally found the old report i read last year and keep in mind the spectrum sell-off is geared for Wimax in official papers
take a look at this
http://gigaom.com/2006/09/08/murdoch-and-tv-over-wimax/
"Murdoch and TV-Over-WiMAX
A few months ago, Robert Young had said that Rupert Murdoch will and should be very interested in fixed wireless technologies. Subsequent media reports and aggressive (and failed) bids for spectrum in the recent Advanced Wireless Spectrum (AWS) auctions indicate that the wily old fox and his company are seriously interested in life beyond satellite.

There hasn’t been much concrete proof of his plans, but today we did discover another little gem which indicates that News Corp. is very interested in WiMAX."

[popper]

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/t...icle1668539.ece
"Ofcom chief tries to calm MPs’ fears on Freeview

Dan Sabbagh and Rebecca O’Connor
Ed Richards, Ofcom’s chief executive, yesterday faced down criticism from MPs calling for the communications regulator to guarantee enough radio spectrum for numerous high-definition channels on Freeview.

His defence came on the same day that Ofcom also sounded the death knell for FM and AM analogue radio under new proposals for digital switchover.

That could mean that national AM services operated by UTV’s TalkSPORT and SMG’s Virgin Radio will be shut down as soon as 2011, while FM services could be forced to go completely digital a year later, after a special review.

The Ofcom boss, answering a question at a joint Select Committee hearing, said that it would be a “soft option” to put guaranteed television spectrum “on the table”. The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 believe that it is necessary to ensure that free-to-air high definition channels are available.

At issue is Ofcom’s decision to reserve no additional spectrum for television once the analogue signal is turned off between 2008 and 2012.

Ofcom wants to sell off the surplus spectrum to the highest bidder, but free-to-air broadcasters fear that they will be outbid by larger telecoms companies.

Lindsay Hoyle, the Labour MP for Chorley, complained that when people bought high-defintion-ready televisions, they were not aware that there was a risk of a “two-tier” service developing, with many high quality pictures available on pay-satellite and cable services but almost nothing on Freeview. Mr Richards also insisted that Ofcom was sticking to a controversial analysis, which said that it would be possible to squeeze “four to six” high-definition channels on to Freeview using the existing allocation of spectrum. That claim has been contested by broadcasters."
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[popper]

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcas...061953,00.html
"Ofcom to consider case for public service HDTV
Tara Conlan
Friday April 20, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk


Ofcom is to conduct more research into the popularity of high definition television before it auctions off the spectrum freed up by turning off the analogue TV signal.


In what may be seen as an indication that some of the spectrum may be given to public service broadcasters, the Ofcom chief executive, Ed Richards, said that the regulator will "look at the public interest case" for gifting analogue spectrum for HDTV and also carry out a more detailed study into what viewers think of HDTV.

Mr Richards' comments followed a call earlier yesterday by the ITV executive chairman, Michael Grade, for the government to use its powers to intervene and allocate some of the spectrum to public service broadcasters to use for HDTV.

Last month, the Treasury announced it hopes to raise a further £36bn over the next four years, selling off public assets including the radio spectrum.

Broadcasters were angry at the plan by the chancellor, Gordon Brown, since it came a day after the end of Ofcom's public consultation on the "digital dividend" - the spectrum which becomes available when the analogue TV signal is switched off.

At yesterday's Voice of the Viewer and Listener spring conference, Professor Steven Barnett pointed out to Mr Richards that he appeared to be less cool than in the past to the idea of spectrum being given to public service broadcasters.
Mr Richards said "people hear different things in what people say", but added: "We are looking at the public interest case.

However, he said that Ofcom has received more than 750 applications for the spectrum, ranging from mobile phone companies to traditional broadcasters....."
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