Re: Digital switchover "debated" in the Commons

John Veldman wrote:
"DAB sounds worse than FM" <dab.is@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:8233eeF3meU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://grantgoddardradioblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/digital-radio-switchover-legislation-is.html

At least there's one MP (Austin Mitchell) that understands the issues -
every other MP seems to get at least one thing completely wrong.


--
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - digital radio news & info

The BBC's "justification" of digital radio switchover is based on lies


The site does not show on my computer. Is there an alternative site?


Here's the text:

Digital radio switchover: legislation is ?virtually meaningless,? says
Shadow Culture Secretary
House of Commons
6 April 2010 @ 1627
Digital Economy Bill, Second Reading [excerpts]

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr. Ben Bradshaw): The
switchover to digital radio has probably aroused more interest than any
other issue in the Bill except that of unlawful file sharing. The target
date of 2015, set by the Government, is an incentive not an ultimatum. We
have made it clear that a decision on digital switchover will not be made
until national DAB coverage is comparable to that of FM, until local DAB
reaches 90 per cent of the population and all major roads and until 50 per
cent of listening is through digital means. Once all those criteria have
been satisfied, there will be at least two years before switchover takes
place, at which point we expect coverage and listening to reach nearly
universal levels ? that is, about 98.5 per cent judged by television reach.

[?]

Mr. Jeremy Hunt (South-West Surrey) (Conservative): The Government have
ducked sorting out digital radio switchover, which the Secretary of State
has just talked about. They are giving Ministers the power to switch over in
2015, yes, but without taking any of the difficult measures necessary to
make it practical or possible.

[?]

Robert Key (Salisbury) (Conservative): Is my hon. Friend content with clause
31, on the digital switchover? It is estimated that the costs to the
consumer will be £800 million, and there is no sign of manufacturers of DAB
radios producing cheap radios, no estimate of the cost of throwing away
millions of existing FM sets, no sign that the motor car industry is going
to come up with the goods ? [interruption]. A Labour Back Bencher says, ?Yes
there is,? but I have read all the papers and although there are one or two
pious hopes, there is nothing more than that. This will be extremely
expensive, and the 2015 deadline is unattainable. Is my hon. Friend content,
therefore, or will we make some further promises?

Mr. Hunt: I share my hon. Friend?s concerns, because I think that clause is
so weak that it is virtually meaningless, as it gives the Secretary of State
the power to mandate switchover in 2015 but the Government have not taken
the difficult steps that would have made that possible, such as ensuring
that the car industry installs digital radios as standard, as my hon. Friend
suggests, and that there is proper reception on all roads and highways. As a
result, a lot of people are very concerned that 110 million analogue radios
will have to be junked in 2015. In particular, I would have liked the
Government to find out whether we could move from DAB to the DAB+
technology, which most people think will be far more effective. If they had
done that, this measure would not threaten smaller local radio stations.

Mr. Siôn Simon (Birmingham, Erdington) (Labour) rose ?

Mr. Hunt: I will give way to the former Minister with responsibility for
creative industries, and then I will make some progress.

Mr. Simon: Given the hon. Gentleman?s desire to move to DAB+, what does he
suggest the 8 million people in this country who have bought very expensive
DAB radios should do?

Mr.Hunt: First, let me say that when the hon. Gentleman stepped down as
Minister for the creative industries, it was a great shame that he was not
replaced. It would have helped in the sensible framing of the Bill if we had
had a Minister with that responsibility now, but there is none. The answer
to the hon. Gentleman?s question is simply this: when we migrate from one
technology to another ? whether analogue to DAB, or DAB to DAB+ ? we need
some kind of help scheme, as we have with TV digital switchover, but there
is no mention of a help scheme in this Bill. That serves to highlight why
the Government have ducked the important decisions.

[?]

Mr. Don Foster (Bath) (Liberal Democrat): Notwithstanding the many concerns
that have been raised over the past few months about the move from analogue
to digital radio, broadly speaking there is now consensus about that
measure. The Secretary of State has laid down clear criteria that have to be
met on listenership and coverage before the two-year starting pistol can be
fired. Of course, there have been concerns. For example, some people thought
that FM would be dropped, but we know that it will not be dropped; indeed,
FM could become a new vibrant platform for local and micro-local radio
stations and given more power. Possibly, Ofcom could start to give them even
longer licences. With all the conditions that have been inserted, that is
another exciting provision that we should acknowledge and accept so that
everyone can have the real benefits of the digital radio era, in terms of
greater interactivity and so on. The Government have done a disservice by
failing to promote the real benefits of digital radio as effectively as they
could. It is not surprising that the Committee in their lordships? House
castigated the Government for their failure. The industry could have done
more. It is a pity that it has taken so long for FM to be included in all
the DAB radios now on sale. It is only very recently that we have heard of
the launch of the mechanism that will ensure people can have a single tuner
covering DAB and FM ? a single EPG, or electronic programme guide. That is
welcome, but the work could have been done sooner.

[?]

Mr. John Whittingdale (Maldon and East Chelmsford) (Conservative): I now
turn to DAB radio. Commercial radio and the BBC have invested huge amounts
in moving to DAB, and commercial radio in particular is now in real economic
difficulties, as the report that my Select Committee ? the Culture, Media
and Sport Committee ? issued this morning explains. There is no doubt that
one burden on it is having to broadcast in analogue and digital
simultaneously, and it would provide some help if it had a firm pathway to a
future in which it need only broadcast in DAB. I believe that the 2015 date,
which I know is not in the Bill, is unrealistic. It is sensible to set a
date, but most people believe that that is probably too ambitious, because
of the single problem of car radios. Yes, some manufacturers are beginning
to fit DAB radios in cars, but there is a huge reservoir of cars that will
not have them for a very long time. We must get to a point at which an
in-car radio can easily be converted to DAB. The device that is on the
market at the moment, which I have in my car, has so many wires, antennae
and bits of equipment that I do not believe it will be taken up with great
enthusiasm.

[?]

Mr. Austin Mitchell (Great Grimsby) (Labour): I cannot agree with my hon.
Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Derek Wyatt) in his
analysis of the digital radio switchover. Clearly the industry, in the main,
supports digital switchover, but of course a switchover to DAB radio by 2015
is wholly impractical and out of the question because that is too soon. It
will be much more difficult to switch over to digital radio than it was to
switch over to digital TV, because that process was helped by the mass
subscription to Sky and by the development of Freeserve. Such provision does
not exist in respect of radio, because there are 120 million radios in this
country and sales of digital radio have not taken off. Digital radio is
quite expensive and if we make it compulsory, that will be a heavy tax on
the consumer. One of the lower prices for a digital radio is about £85, and
that price has increased with devaluation. So this would be a heavy burden
to impose on the consumer, and if we require switchover, it would leave
about 120 stations still on FM and locked out in the cold. We do not have to
switch over at this speed and we do not have to switch over to DAB because
we could move to DAB+, which would allow both services to be run
concurrently. I am worried about the digital switchover for radio, because
the crucial factor here is car radios, for which the technology is never
sold effectively. Like the hon. Member for Maldon and East Chelmsford (Mr.
Whittingdale), my experience with DAB in the car has been totally
unsatisfactory. Not only is it messy, but it is difficult to pick up a
station, and the signal cuts in and out and fades away, so one is constantly
having to switch back to FM. Digital car radio sales are crucial, but such
sales have been low and there is no sign of their taking off. Only 1 per
cent of cars are fitted with a digital radio, and until there is a mass
fitting of digital car radios we shall not be able to have an effective
switch-off. I am worried about that provision.

[?]

Mr. John Grogan (Selby) (Labour): Two great debates on this Bill, with
commercial interests on both sides, have been referred to tonight. I will
not rehearse all the arguments, but one of the debates is on digital radio.
The Opposition Front-Bench team seems to be saying that it opposes the
current model the Government are suggesting. The Opposition spokesman
suggested that he was now in favour of DAB+. It is interesting that hundreds
of radio stations listened to by our constituents throughout the land, such
as Minster FM, are being offered no digital future whatever in this Bill.
What they are being offered, at best, is a place on a joint FM and digital
electronic programme guide that is still being developed, and even if they
get on that device, they will still not have all the advantages of potential
and so forth, and they will be very much second-class stations. Under the
Bill as currently drafted, that is the future. Helpful amendments were
tabled by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords
suggesting that before any switchover there should be full consideration of
all local and community stations. I will re-table those amendments today; I
hope that the hon. Member for Bath will support them, and that they might
tempt the Conservative Front Bench, too, in the negotiations for the
wash-up. There is another side to the debate, to do with the BBC and some
other digital radio interests. This reinforces the point that we should
still have a full Committee stage ? and if we cannot have that, we should
pass the Bill on to our successors.

[debate ended 10pm]



--
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - digital radio news & info

The BBC's "justification" of digital radio switchover is based on lies


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