London will not be the only region getting an earlier than expected Freeview HD switch-on, with Ofcom revealing that Scotland, the North East and mid-Yorkshire are all in line for the high-definition service.
Freeview HD is being seen by many as the most pivotal event in UK HD television, bringing subscription free high definition programming to the masses.
And although the roll-out projections are for completion by 2012, many regions now look set to get Freeview HD much earlier – soon after the service launches in the Granada region on 2 December 2009.
Crystal Palace
Although no launch date has been released for London's Freeview HD, the Crystal Palace transmitter will be upgraded to DVB-T2 in December.
What Satellite magazine have now learned that Glasgow, Edinburgh, Tyneside, Sunderland, Leeds and Bradford will all benefit from early switches.
"The other three transmitters will be upgraded during 2010, with Black Hill probably forming part of the Scottish region's digital switchover," says WotSat
"…Regions which have already made the switch will have to be upgraded between now and 2012, but BBC head of distribution Graham Plumb has said he expects up to half the country to be able see the July 2010 football World Cup on Freeview HD."
Via WotSat
Your comments (3) Click to add a new comment
saj
July 15th 2009
3. As soon as Freeview HD is in the mainstream Sky will drop it's £10 per month charge for its HD subscription. Which will be nice.
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calcio
July 15th 2009
2. Fact is that without a big launch Freeview HD would struggle to get much early purchase. This is good news because now the platform will make a bigger splash.
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healeydave
July 15th 2009
1. Get it done already. Jees, a 10 year plan to switch from analog to digital was bad enough, I'm surprised Freeview HD isn't given another 10 year estimate. Meanwhile lets waste more money installing in your face Smart Meters in peoples homes, so they can panic more about how much electricity they are using!
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