Sydney says a final goodbye to analog TV

We're nearing the end of an era - at 9am today, Sydneysiders were permanently switched to digital-only TV.

Analog TV signals were switched off in the region in the largest digital switch-over to take place in Australia to date, involving more than 1.7 million households in Sydney and surrounding areas.

The final digital switchover in Australia is scheduled to take place on December 10, with Melbourne and remote and central eastern Australian regions left to switch of Australias's remaining analog TV signals.

If your region hasn't been switched over yet, make sure you have either a set-top box, a digital TV or a digital recorder connected to your old analog TV - though we can't imagine that any of you aren't ready for it.

In the strange circumstance that you aren't, you can always utilise the Australian government's Household Assistance Scheme and Satellite Subsidy Scheme to help you get "digital ready".

Welcome to the digital age

The country-wide switchover began on June 2010 in Mildurra Victoria.

The government auctioned off most of the analog signal spectrum that opened up as part of the Digital Divendend, with telcos buying up the 700MHz spectrum to expand their 4G network.

As more of the spectrum will be opened up after the final analog TV switch-off, it is likely that the government will once again hold an auction for it.

With more and more users relying on mobile internet, it'll be interesting to see if telcos will again buy up the spectrum to further develop their 4G networks.

• Speaking of 4G, which is Australia's best 4G network?