When do I have to switch my TV over to digital?

Starting in 2008 and ending in 2012, all TV services in the UK will go completely digital.  If you don’t already have digital TV, you will need to convert your television equipment to digital.  If you can get more than five channels, you already have digital TV. 

Switchover to digital will happen TV region by TV region, starting with the Border region in 2008.  The timetable for switchover is as follows:

2008 – Border
2009 – West Country, HTV Wales and Granada
2010 – HTV West, Grampian and Scottish
2011 – Central, Yorkshire and Anglia
2012 – Meridian, Carlton/LWT, Tyne Tees and Ulster

You’ll get plenty of notice before services in your area are affected, and plenty of advice on what to do.  Your TV region is determined by which ITV1 service/ITV regional news that you currently receive. 

There are four options for getting digital TV.  You can:

•  get a digital box and plug it into your existing T
• subscribe to digital cable
• subscribe to digital satellite
• subscribe to a service which delivers TV through a telephone line.

The availability of the different types of digital television will vary depending on where you live.  To find out more about digital switchover and which options are available in your area, visit the DigitalUK website at www.digitaluk.co.uk
There is also a call centre you can phone on 0845 6 50 50 50.