§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make an assessment of the benefits to the consumer of a digital terrestrial television service being(a) wholly free to air and (b) partly free to air and partly pay. [65463]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 1 July 2002]The licences surrendered by ITV digital have been re-advertised by the Independent Television Commission. I understand that the ITC have received six applications. Some of the applicants propose a wholly free to air service, other a mix of free to air and pay channels. Decisions on the licence awards are not a matter for the government but for the ITC which aims to announce the new licensees by 4 July.