Digital radio switchover plans outlined this week

Digital radio - plans to be announced soon
Digital radio - plans to be announced soon

Culture minister Ed Vaizey has announced that plans for the UK's digital radio switchover will be unveiled this week.

Speaking in London at a progress report for the digital switchover, Vaizey was questioned over whether there will be more news on what is happening with digital radio and he noted that there will be details released "this Thursday".

Broadband trials

The digital radio switchover is something which is set to be completed by 2015, but it will be an uphill battle to convert those who still use analogue – which includes the majority of all cars in the country.

Just this week, the importance of digital radio in the UK was highlighted with the news that digital-only station 6Music was saved from being axed by the BBC Trust.

In the switchover update, Vaizey also announced that the government has so far underspent the money put aside for the switchover and he is hoping that £55 million of the £200 million pot will be used to boost the country's broadband infrastructure and supplement a trial of superfast broadband in the country.

He could not guarantee that all the money would be spent on this – or who the superfast trial would be with – but it's good news that the government has finally come under budget for something.

Via Wotsat

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.