Are You Ready?

On the BBC South tv programme yesterday, Tuesday 8 November, a representative of Digital UK suggested there could be a million people in the south of England who are not yet ready for the Digital Switchover next March. That could create quite a demand for set-top boxes next March. In order to be sure of not missing out, it is important to obtain the Freeview box for an existing analogue-only television sooner rather than later.

There may be a problem in that, owing to geographical position, a household is not able to receive the current digital transmissions so a box purchased now cannot be used until March when the transmission power increases, thus using up valuable guarantee time. There is no solution to that one: you either buy now when the boxes are in plentiful supply or wait and maybe have to wait for longer if supplies run out. Similarly, anyone currently receiving tv from a relay transmitter, like Winterborne Stickland, cannot use a set-top box until next March because such transmitters are not presently transmitting any digital signals.