Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

I've been reading around Ofcom's proposals to grab as much cash as
possible from the sale of bandwidth following the digital switchover,
both their own publications and views expressed on various groups and
forums.

What amazes me is that Ofcom's consultation process should start AFTER
they've already formulated their proposals. This seems arse-about-face
to me. Surely you should garner opinions before striking out on a
route that will strangle the development of HD broadcasting in the UK
for years to come.

Ofcom quote results of market research, saying that HDTV is a marginal
interest compared with more elaborate mobile services. It makes me
wonder how far the researchers managed to stagger away from the
Blueberry-flavoured waters of their corporate headquarters.

UK sales of HDTV sets have soared recently, partly on the back of
people expecting more content to become available in high definition
format. I think that all of us who have parted with our hard-earned
cash to buy an HD TV were looking forward to feasting our eyes on some
free public service broadcasts.

Maybe Ofcom wanted to provoke a reaction, to stimulate the debate
(though I very much doubt it). Sadly, the formal process of responding
to their proposals is now completed. This does not mean that all
avenues are closed however. I'm in favour of lobbying MPs and
contacting Ofcom direct (details on their website).

To read more on this subject, visit my blog at http://hdtvexpert.blogspot.com
or visit http://www.hdtvexpert.co.uk

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

wrote in message
oups.com...
I've been reading around Ofcom's proposals to grab as much cash as
possible from the sale of bandwidth following the digital switchover,
both their own publications and views expressed on various groups and
forums.

What amazes me is that Ofcom's consultation process should start AFTER
they've already formulated their proposals. This seems arse-about-face
to me. Surely you should garner opinions before striking out on a
route that will strangle the development of HD broadcasting in the UK
for years to come.




Super-casino anyone? This from a Sec of State married to an Italian mafia
lawyer and can't remember whether she signed a teeny-weeny £300K mortgage at
her breakfast table.

Historians may well look back and view the 2000s as the most corrupt and
inept period in British media history.

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

wrote in message
oups.com
I've been reading around Ofcom's proposals to grab as much cash as
possible from the sale of bandwidth following the digital switchover,
both their own publications and views expressed on various groups and
forums.

What amazes me is that Ofcom's consultation process should start AFTER
they've already formulated their proposals. This seems arse-about-face
to me. Surely you should garner opinions before striking out on a
route that will strangle the development of HD broadcasting in the UK
for years to come.

Consultation processes *always* start after the decisions have been made,
haven't you noticed? (Not just government ones, but also ones about who gets
made redundant.)

--
Max Demian

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

wrote:

snip


I think it is better that the broadcasters aren't donated the Digital
Dividend spectrum, because if they do donate it then the broadcasters will
be less likely to adopt DVB-T2 (because that'll require people to install
new aerials, which the public service broadcasters would probably want to
avoid in case people choose to spend the money on getting satellite instead,
or whatever).

IMO, DVB-T2 (which should double the DVB-T multiplex capacity) is the only
way that Freeview will get a reasonable number of HDTV channels, so I would
have thought you'd be in favour of this?


--
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

Find the cheapest Freeview & DAB prices:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/fr..._receivers.php
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dab/dab_radios.php

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

In message , Light of Aria
writes


Super-casino anyone? This from a Sec of State married to an Italian
mafia lawyer and can't remember whether she signed a teeny-weeny £300K
mortgage at her breakfast table.

Historians may well look back and view the 2000s as the most corrupt
and inept period in British media history.


No, that would be 1979-1997.
--
Ian

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

The message
from Ian contains these words:

In message , Light of Aria
writes


Super-casino anyone? This from a Sec of State married to an Italian
mafia lawyer and can't remember whether she signed a teeny-weeny £300K
mortgage at her breakfast table.

Historians may well look back and view the 2000s as the most corrupt
and inept period in British media history.


No, that would be 1979-1997.

No doubt about that. That's when the 'bar was lowered' and the UK
attained 'Third World Status'. It's been downhill ever since then. The
gradient might have eased off a little since then but the 'Robber
Barons' still have too tight a grip on the 'dumbed down' meedja for any
radical reforms to be given the consideration required to get this
country out of the hole it's landed itself in. :-(

--
Regards, John.

Please remove the "ohggcyht" before replying.
The address has been munged to reject Spam-bots.

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

"Johnny B Good" wrote in message
.. .
The message
from Ian contains these words:

In message , Light of Aria
writes


Super-casino anyone? This from a Sec of State married to an Italian
mafia lawyer and can't remember whether she signed a teeny-weeny £300K
mortgage at her breakfast table.

Historians may well look back and view the 2000s as the most corrupt
and inept period in British media history.


No, that would be 1979-1997.

No doubt about that. That's when the 'bar was lowered' and the UK
attained 'Third World Status'. It's been downhill ever since then. The
gradient might have eased off a little since then but the 'Robber
Barons' still have too tight a grip on the 'dumbed down' meedja for any
radical reforms to be given the consideration required to get this
country out of the hole it's landed itself in. :-(

--
Regards, John.

Please remove the "ohggcyht" before replying.
The address has been munged to reject Spam-bots.


The Robber Barons always did have control of the medjia all along, be it the
establishment serving elitist BBC or the rich aristocracy owning the ITV
cash cow.

Anyway, there is point in my racking myself over what happened 3 decades ago
under Thatcher when there are incompetent ****-ups being spawned today under
our noses.

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

On Mar 29, 3:51 pm, Dave Farrance
wrote:
wrote:
...
Ofcom quote results of market research, saying that HDTV is a marginal
interest compared with more elaborate mobile services. ...

It seems to me that many of the UHF preamps and DVB receivers currently
on the market are not too clever at handling strong signals on adjacent
channels. So what's going to happen when a UHF mobile broadcasts in the
same room as a DVB receiver?

That is exactly one of the BBC's concerns about the possible 'non
broadcast' use of the UHF spectrum.

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

"Mark Carver" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Mar 29, 3:51 pm, Dave Farrance
wrote:
wrote:
...
Ofcom quote results of market research, saying that HDTV is a marginal
interest compared with more elaborate mobile services. ...

It seems to me that many of the UHF preamps and DVB receivers currently
on the market are not too clever at handling strong signals on adjacent
channels. So what's going to happen when a UHF mobile broadcasts in the
same room as a DVB receiver?

That is exactly one of the BBC's concerns about the possible 'non
broadcast' use of the UHF spectrum.

I would think that the very common installation consisting of a wideband
masthead amp and a wideband aerial would be very susceptible to interference
from a passing UHF transmitter on a vehicle or whatever.

Bill

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

"Mark Carver" wrote in message
oups.com
On Mar 29, 3:51 pm, Dave Farrance
wrote:
wrote:
...
Ofcom quote results of market research, saying that HDTV is a
marginal interest compared with more elaborate mobile services. ...

It seems to me that many of the UHF preamps and DVB receivers
currently on the market are not too clever at handling strong
signals on adjacent channels. So what's going to happen when a UHF
mobile broadcasts in the same room as a DVB receiver?

That is exactly one of the BBC's concerns about the possible 'non
broadcast' use of the UHF spectrum.

This is the same thing that happened when VHF (405 line) TV was switched
off. It was "supposed" [1] to be used for two more 625 line stations.

[1] Well the Philips VCRs of the day had two extra presets for VHF TV.

--
Max Demian

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

Dave Farrance wrote:
wrote:

...
Ofcom quote results of market research, saying that HDTV is a
marginal interest compared with more elaborate mobile services. ...

It seems to me that many of the UHF preamps and DVB receivers
currently on the market are not too clever at handling strong signals
on adjacent channels. So what's going to happen when a UHF mobile
broadcasts in the same room as a DVB receiver?


The Digital Dividend spectrum is in two blocks:

Channels 31 - 40 (excl. 36 and 38)
Channels 63 - 68

so there's actually only 3 channels that could possibly be adjacent to
channels used for mobile TV, and these channels at the edge of the
continguous blocks might not be used for mobile TV, because they could be
used for, say, WiMAX.


--
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

Find the cheapest Freeview & DAB prices:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/fr..._receivers.php
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dab/dab_radios.php

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

Mark Carver wrote:
On Mar 29, 3:51 pm, Dave Farrance
wrote:
wrote:
...
Ofcom quote results of market research, saying that HDTV is a
marginal interest compared with more elaborate mobile services. ...

It seems to me that many of the UHF preamps and DVB receivers
currently on the market are not too clever at handling strong
signals on adjacent channels. So what's going to happen when a UHF
mobile broadcasts in the same room as a DVB receiver?

That is exactly one of the BBC's concerns about the possible 'non
broadcast' use of the UHF spectrum.


They would say that, wouldn't they.


--
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

Find the cheapest Freeview & DAB prices:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/fr..._receivers.php
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dab/dab_radios.php

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

DAB is the Betamax of digital radio wrote:
Dave Farrance wrote:
wrote:

...
Ofcom quote results of market research, saying that HDTV is a
marginal interest compared with more elaborate mobile services. ...

It seems to me that many of the UHF preamps and DVB receivers
currently on the market are not too clever at handling strong signals
on adjacent channels. So what's going to happen when a UHF mobile
broadcasts in the same room as a DVB receiver?


The Digital Dividend spectrum is in two blocks:

Channels 31 - 40 (excl. 36 and 38)
Channels 63 - 68

so there's actually only 3 channels that could possibly be adjacent to
channels used for mobile TV, and these channels at the edge of the
*continguous* blocks might not be used for mobile TV, because they
could be used for, say, WiMAX.


contiguous


--
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

Find the cheapest Freeview & DAB prices:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/fr..._receivers.php
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dab/dab_radios.php

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

I'm glad to have stirred such an enlightened debate. It's also good to
see the fondness without which the Thatcher years are remembered.
Immense indifference to the views of the public coupled with a
meltdown of social values in favour of self-obsessive capitalism - oh
those were the days.

I clearly remember the euphoria with which the end of Tory rule was
greeted a few years later. "Things can only get better" was the anthem
of the day. I remember waking up with a hungover smile, too few hours
after switching off the election special. But how much has changed for
the better in the intervening years?

In terms of TV, have we really moved a long way forward from those
dark (quite literally once the last evening broacast ended) days? For
the price of our TV licence, our aerials now bring us 4 or 5 channels.
Any more than that requires extra equipment (a Freeview box, cable box
or satellite receiver). For a good variety of channels we also need to
pay a subscription fee, to a choice of - erm - now there's a thing.
What choice is there? BSkyB for satellite or Virgin Media for cable.
Surely that's not what was envisaged when the digital broadcasting age
dawned? Consumer choice - the right to vote with purse or wallet has
been stifled by the lack of competition in the broadcast market.

I think it is fundamental to a country's ability to entertain, educate
and generally inform its public, that a good variety of high quality
programming should be available as a public service. As technology
moves on, so the quality expected of programming moves with it. This
expectation extends beyond acting, presenting and directorial skills
to the very quality of the picture and sound being broadcast. Hence
the massive take-up of HDTVs in the UK.

Handing the responsibility for high definition broadcasting over to
the twin monopolies of BSkyB and Virgin Media is like asking the
Romans to look after your vicar.

If Ofcom's proposals go ahead and the digital dividend ends up with
the freed bandwidth being auctioned off to the greediest buyers, the
future of HDTV broadcast in the UK will be a bleak one.

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

Mike Henry wrote:

See above. It's taken many years, but finally it is getting harder to
find stupid analogue-only TVs in the shops now. Although I continue to
despair at analogue-only TVs still being on sale a full EIGHT YEARS
after the launch of DTT, and people buying them out of ignorance with
the salesman knowing they'll be back.


What about people who just want a cheap CRT TV and who have a perfectly
good digital receiver, or more than one, already? I don't really want
an expensive, flat panel, HD ready thing at the moment but in many shops
that seems to be all there is.

Stewart

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

hdtvexpert wrote:

I clearly remember the euphoria with which the end of Tory rule was
greeted a few years later. "Things can only get better" was the anthem
of the day. I remember waking up with a hungover smile, too few hours
after switching off the election special. But how much has changed for
the better in the intervening years?

Blair and the New Labour project had near universal goodwill to create a
better fairer society, but it's been ten wasted years frittered away in
sleaze, lies and spin that makes the Major government look like a bunch
of 5 year olds scheming in the school playground.

In terms of TV, have we really moved a long way forward from those
dark (quite literally once the last evening broacast ended) days? For
the price of our TV licence, our aerials now bring us 4 or 5 channels.
Any more than that requires extra equipment (a Freeview box, cable box
or satellite receiver). For a good variety of channels we also need to
pay a subscription fee, to a choice of - erm - now there's a thing.

A sub-£30 Freeview box will get you 12-15 free channels with a
reasonable level of programme content. Or rent a DVD. Otherwise, go and
do something more interesting instead... :-)

Handing the responsibility for high definition broadcasting over to
the twin monopolies of BSkyB and Virgin Media is like asking the
Romans to look after your vicar.

Perhaps now that ITV/Setanta have prised Premiership and FA Cup football
from the BBC/Sky duopoly we'll see a new beginning. Assuming ITV don't
go bust in the process, perhaps we'll see their games in HD, which will
jump start wider availability of FTA HD.

If Ofcom's proposals go ahead and the digital dividend ends up with
the freed bandwidth being auctioned off to the greediest buyers, the
future of HDTV broadcast in the UK will be a bleak one.

If HDTV is confined to satellite/cable delivery, within 10 years the
entire UHF spectrum will be lost to television. That might just be part
of the long term master plan.

Peter

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

Peter Hayes wrote:
hdtvexpert wrote:

I clearly remember the euphoria with which the end of Tory rule was
greeted a few years later. "Things can only get better" was the
anthem of the day. I remember waking up with a hungover smile, too
few hours after switching off the election special. But how much has
changed for the better in the intervening years?

Blair and the New Labour project had near universal goodwill to
create a better fairer society, but it's been ten wasted years
frittered away in sleaze, lies and spin that makes the Major
government look like a bunch of 5 year olds scheming in the school
playground.


I didn't know 5 year olds practised autoasphyxiation whilst wearing a gimp
outfit? And what's the 5-year-old equivalent of Jeffery Archer's antics, I
wonder?



--
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

Find the cheapest Freeview & DAB prices:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/fr..._receivers.php
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dab/dab_radios.php

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

"hdtvexpert" wrote:
I'm glad to have stirred such an enlightened debate.

"DAB is the Betamax of digital radio" [email protected] wrote:
I didn't know 5 year olds practised autoasphyxiation whilst wearing a gimp
outfit? And what's the 5-year-old equivalent of Jeffery Archer's antics, I
wonder?

It's good to see that the enlightened debate continues :)


Tim
web: http://www.hdtvexpert.co.uk
blog: http://hdtvexpert.blobspot.com

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

Mike Henry wrote:
That's helped make my point - many of those expensive, flat panel, HD
ready things are analogue-only! Boggle! HD ready (and some of them true
1920x1080 HD) too! It would be a bit like buying a NICAM stereo TV in
the 1990s, only to fixed it's black and white.

To carry the HD Ready logo, a TV must have at least one HDMI input.
This is capable of carrying a digital signal in full, uncompressed
high definition format. I think what you are referring to is that some
TVs have a built-in digital TV (DVB) decoder whereas others rely on an
external decoder?

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

On 30 Mar 2007 06:28:31 -0700, "hdtvexpert"
wrote:

In terms of TV, have we really moved a long way forward from those
dark (quite literally once the last evening broacast ended) days? For
the price of our TV licence, our aerials now bring us 4 or 5 channels.
Any more than that requires extra equipment (a Freeview box, cable box
or satellite receiver). For a good variety of channels we also need to
pay a subscription fee, to a choice of - erm - now there's a thing.

For the one-off purchase of a relatively cheap extra box and no
subscription at all we have all the existing channels in widescreen,
Film 4, BBC4 and News 24. That much is an improvement on its own.
Admittedly there's a load of rubbish as well, and if it had been
properly organised we could have had it several years sooner and
probably with better picture and sound quality, but at least we've got
it.

Rod.

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:02:42 +0100, Roderick Stewart
wrote:

On 30 Mar 2007 06:28:31 -0700, "hdtvexpert"
wrote:

In terms of TV, have we really moved a long way forward from those
dark (quite literally once the last evening broacast ended) days? For
the price of our TV licence, our aerials now bring us 4 or 5 channels.
Any more than that requires extra equipment (a Freeview box, cable box
or satellite receiver). For a good variety of channels we also need to
pay a subscription fee, to a choice of - erm - now there's a thing.

For the one-off purchase of a relatively cheap extra box and no
subscription at all we have all the existing channels in widescreen,
Film 4, BBC4 and News 24. That much is an improvement on its own.
Admittedly there's a load of rubbish as well, and if it had been
properly organised we could have had it several years sooner and
probably with better picture and sound quality, but at least we've got
it.

The "load of rubbish" being the key phrase. Think of all the carbon
stuff being produced by all the Txs carrying rubbish, and all the
"extra boxes" and big-screen tellies casually tuned in to them,
switched on all day/evening...

Once upon a time, people would switch on their telly to watch a
programme, then switch it off afterwards.

--
Frank Erskine

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

Mike Henry wrote:

... I think TVs without any
tuners at all are fine, perfectly understandable. But Spanking new,
9-years-after-DTT-launch HD-TVs with analogue tuners but not DTT tuners
are bonkers.

Yes. And the people most technically disinclined and most likely to be
caught out by the digital switchover are the people with the least money
and who buy TVs in supermarkets. I've just checked my local Sainsbury's
in Cheltenham and there were 14 TV models on sale -- 4 DTT and 10
analogue-only.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when the first analogue
transmitter closes down later this year. Chain-stores don't "localise"
their products because that puts up the logistics costs, so will they be
still be selling analogue-only TVs in the DTT-only area, I wonder.

--
Dave Farrance

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:18:03 +0100, Frank Erskine
wrote:

Once upon a time, people would switch on their telly to watch a
programme, then switch it off afterwards.

I still do. Mine spends more time off than on.

Rod.

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

In article , Roderick
Stewart writes
On 30 Mar 2007 06:28:31 -0700, "hdtvexpert"
wrote:

In terms of TV, have we really moved a long way forward from those
dark (quite literally once the last evening broacast ended) days? For
the price of our TV licence, our aerials now bring us 4 or 5 channels.
Any more than that requires extra equipment (a Freeview box, cable box
or satellite receiver). For a good variety of channels we also need to
pay a subscription fee, to a choice of - erm - now there's a thing.

For the one-off purchase of a relatively cheap extra box and no
subscription at all we have all the existing channels in widescreen,
Film 4, BBC4 and News 24. That much is an improvement on its own.
Admittedly there's a load of rubbish as well, and if it had been
properly organised we could have had it several years sooner and
probably with better picture and sound quality, but at least we've got
it.


Yes anything better than what currently passes for digital TV in the
UK;)....

--
Tony Sayer

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

In article , Roderick
Stewart writes
On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:18:03 +0100, Frank Erskine
wrote:

Once upon a time, people would switch on their telly to watch a
programme, then switch it off afterwards.

I still do. Mine spends more time off than on.

Rod.

Same here.. Thats why despite being 10 years old it still looks
excellent, the tube hasn't been burnt out being left on all day...
--
Tony Sayer

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 12:08:42 +0100, Roderick Stewart
wrote:

|!On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:18:03 +0100, Frank Erskine
wrote:
|!
|!Once upon a time, people would switch on their telly to watch a
|!programme, then switch it off afterwards.
|!
|!I still do. Mine spends more time off than on.

Same here!
--
Dave Fawthrop sf hyphenologist.co.uk 165 *Free* SF ebooks.
165 Sci Fi books on CDROM, from Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page Completely Free to any
address in the UK. Contact me on the *above* email address.

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
In article , Roderick
Stewart writes
On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:18:03 +0100, Frank Erskine
wrote:

Once upon a time, people would switch on their telly to watch a
programme, then switch it off afterwards.

I still do. Mine spends more time off than on.

Rod.

Same here.. Thats why despite being 10 years old it still looks
excellent, the tube hasn't been burnt out being left on all day...
--
Tony Sayer

I saw screenburn on a telly yesterday. I could clearly read the words 'BBC
Radio 1'. Someone had left the monitoring telly at a system head end turned
on. It was on when I got there. Curiously the DTT box feeding the video
signal to the box refused to change channel or produce any audio or do
anything at all in fact until I rebooted it.

Bill

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...

"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
In article , Roderick
Stewart writes
On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:18:03 +0100, Frank Erskine
wrote:

Once upon a time, people would switch on their telly to watch a
programme, then switch it off afterwards.

I still do. Mine spends more time off than on.

Rod.

Same here.. Thats why despite being 10 years old it still looks
excellent, the tube hasn't been burnt out being left on all day...
--
Tony Sayer

I saw screenburn on a telly yesterday. I could clearly read the words 'BBC
Radio 1'. Someone had left the monitoring telly at a system head end
turned on. It was on when I got there. Curiously the DTT box feeding the
video signal to the box refused to change channel or produce any audio or
do anything at all in fact until I rebooted it.

Bill




Last time I was in Broadcasting House, all the BBC's plasma screens are
burnt by their own DOG excrement. It's even more obvious where the BBC keeps
moving their DOG faeces around the screen. Still that is what the ****tards
want, isn't it. ;-)

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

In message , Bill Wright
writes
I would think that the very common installation consisting of a wideband
masthead amp and a wideband aerial would be very susceptible to interference
from a passing UHF transmitter on a vehicle or whatever.
That's what they're designed to do, you'd need a band pass or band stop
filter to be able to present the dodgybox with just the required
signals.
--
Clive.

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

On 30 Mar 2007 06:28:31 -0700, "hdtvexpert"
wrote:

I clearly remember the euphoria with which the end of Tory rule was
greeted a few years later. "Things can only get better" was the anthem
of the day. I remember waking up with a hungover smile, too few hours
after switching off the election special. But how much has changed for
the better in the intervening years?

As we went to vote for Bliar, a cuckoo was singing.

In retrospect it was trying to tell us something . . .

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

"Clive." wrote in message
...
In message , Bill Wright
writes
I would think that the very common installation consisting of a wideband
masthead amp and a wideband aerial would be very susceptible to
interference
from a passing UHF transmitter on a vehicle or whatever.
That's what they're designed to do, you'd need a band pass or band stop
filter to be able to present the dodgybox with just the required signals.

Quite. So the selling off of part of the TV band will mean that private
citizens have to fit previously unneccessary filters to their equipment. Who
will pay for these filters and for their installation? Oh, I expect the
government will say "OK, fair enough, we've done this for profit, so we'll
reimburse everyone." Will they my arse. You and I will have the
inconvenience and cost, and we'll get SFA out of the sale. Just another
stealth tax.

Bill

Ofcom and the Giant Digital Dividend
 

On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 16:26:21 +0100, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:

!Once upon a time, people would switch on their telly to watch a
|!programme, then switch it off afterwards.
|!
|!I still do. Mine spends more time off than on.

Same here!

Thinking about this some more, it's probably because I'm old enough to
remember the arrival of television into a household (or a world, for
that matter) that previously didn't have it, and at first there were
only a few programmes per day anyway. Not having grown up with 24 hour
multichannel garbage is probably why I've never got into the habit of
taking it for granted. That, and possibly the fact that my parents
never saw the point of leaving things switched on when nobody was
using them.

Rod.