The great digital migration has begun in earnest; analogue TV has already disappeared from the airwaves of parts of Scotland, Cumbria, Wales and the south-west of England.

The majority of the country's 60 million TVs are already digital and 90 per cent of households are enjoying digital TV on at least one set.

But there are 14 million or so analogue TVs and 26 million VCRs that need converting to digital compatibility, and it's Digital UK's responsibility to ensure nobody ends up watching a blank screen when D-day comes around.

The organisation is systematically working across the regions offering assistance, while spending £200m to publicise the event and its implications for householders.

So every household and all premises in the country will receive a switchover leaflet, there are numerous roadshows, a barrage of local advertising and onscreen messages on the analogue channels.

A Switchover Help Scheme has also been set up to offer practical guidance to roughly seven million less techno-savvy viewers and households on low incomes. Eligible people include those aged 75 years or over; anyone who has lived in a care home for six months or more; those on certain disability benefits and anyone registered blind or partially sighted.

Eligible households get one Freeview box installed and demonstrated plus follow-up support. There is a fee of £40 for the help, which is waived for those on income support, job seeker's allowance or pension credit, who do not have to pay.

Digital UK's task is complicated by the fact that as there is no simple solution to going digital, there remains a strong possibility that uninformed consumers will spend money on inappropriate equipment.

Stuff to consider

The number of factors that need to be considered is potentially overwhelming.

Which platform to use (Freeview, satellite, cable or broadband); how to convert each TV (digibox or replace with an IDTV); how to convert each VCR (digibox or replace with a PVR, which will also convert a TV)?

Will the cheapest method be the least stressful option? Will the aerial need upgrading? Is the aerial downlead up to the job? Will a set-top aerial be sufficient for converting portable TVs?

Would a subscription, maybe as part of a bundled deal with a phone line and broadband services be preferable? Is a satellite dish allowed on the building? Is a landlord responsible for ensuring that a shared aerial will work?

The final estimated costs to the consumer, based on using a £20 entry-level digibox for each analogue TV and VCR, show that the public is expected to spend around £800m to convert or replace remaining analogue TVs and VCRs.

In reality, the cost will probably exceed £1bn, since many people will use superior digiboxes and PVRs such as Humax's PVR-9300T with its £200 price tag. On top of that, it is believed that over a third of the country's 14m aerials need upgrading at a cost of between £60 and £180 each, which equates to between £840m and £2.52bn heading into the pockets of the aerial installation industry.

Post-switchover, most TV viewers should be happy with the greater selection of channels, red button services and PVR functions (eg pausing live TV, series link) but, hardware makers and pay-TV providers aside, the real winners of switchover will be the Government, who expects to reap somewhere between £5bn and £10bn from selling off the analogue spectrum.

Less eco-friendly

Another less obvious cost of switchover is increased power usage. Digiboxes are less energy efficient than IDTVs as they introduce a second power supply and also consume a significant amount of electricity in standby mode.

Higher electricity consumption also means higher CO2 emissions, so digital switchover is making an unwelcome contribution to global warming (especially as the process is being repeated globally). So much for the costs, what about the logistics of the switchover?

The recently completed Border area switch saw 52,000 homes, served by the Selkirk transmitter and its 11 relays, say farewell to analogue.

Afterwards, Digital UK's chairman, Barry Cox, said: "I am pleased to say that the lessons from Copeland (Cumbria) assisted a successful process in the Borders. That is not to say that switchover passed without any problems, but we were able to assist everyone who needed extra help."

Two weeks later Digital UK conducted a survey and, most crucially, says that every home had converted its main television set to digital, for which it deserves credit. So what problems were there?

Apart from 13 per cent of secondary TVs remaining unconverted the main issue was that many viewers lost their digital channels because they failed to retune their equipment.