The clock is tickingas the digital switch-over approaches. Recently, the date for the first town togo fully digital was announced.

It will begin in Whitehaven, Cumbria,on Wednesday October 17, 2007. The analogue terrestrial signal carrying BBC Twoto this area will be switched off on that day. There willbe a four week gap before the remaining analogue channels vanish on November14, to be replaced by a high powered Freeview signal.

It means thateveryone in Whitehaven with a TV must ensure that they have a Freeview receiver(as a standalone box or built into the TV), or a suitable alternative - i.e. a satellite or cable system. Thatincludes extra sets in bedrooms, kitchens, etc, and any actively used VCRs,hard drive or DVD recorders without an internal Freeview tuner must also beconnected up to a Freeview tuner.

In rural areas Sky dishes are quite a common sight, especially because hills and mountains oftencause terrestrial reception problems (for both analogue and digital). One infive homes still do not get analogue Channel Five in England, while Welsh analogue viewers donot get a 24-hour English-language Channel Four.

The problem withother ways of getting digital TV, such as cable or more recently developedinternet TV services like BT Vision , is that rural areas generally lack cable TV and good ADSLbroadband connections. This is also one of the reasons why the BBC has proposeda 'Freesat' service, which will be set up like a Freeview version of digitalsatellite, so that viewers don't necessarily have to go through Sky if theysimply want free-to-view channels.

Analogue switch-offis being rolled out across the UK in phases, beginning with the less densely populated districts, such as therest of the Borders region in 2008 then the north west, Wales and the west country during 2009.

Many in the TV industry and government will be scrutinising the Whitehaven switch-off as a significanttest case. A small three-month trial already took place near Ferryside,Carmarthenshire, in 2004-2005. When asked if they would like to revert back toanalogue, 85 percent of villagers responded and 99 percent of them opted tostay digital.

High-populationareas, such as London,the south east and the Tyne-Tees region are not due for switch-off until 2012.

There hasbeen criticism from Age Concern that not enough is being done to helppensioners below the age of 75. According to Digital UK, 27 percent ofWhitehaven homes currently receive no form of digital TV, compared to 21percent in the UK as a whole. One way or the other, that percentage will need to drop and whetheran HD service will also appear in analogue TV's place remains to be seen.

For more information about the digital switchover, click through to the following websites: www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk , www.bbc.co.uk/digital and www.savefreeviewhd.com .

Words by: Ian Calcutt