§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the international clearance of frequency 35 for use by Channel 5. [21455]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorFrequency channel 35 will be used from nine major transmission sites and, because of the potential of such transmissions to create interference problems with neighbouring countries, it is necessary to co-ordinate their use with other countries. The Radiocommunications Agency has obtained agreement to transmission from five of the sites—Fenton, Sudbury, the Wrekin, Hannington, and Ridge Hill. It is anticipated that the outstanding issues concerning the other sites—Kilvey Hill, Waltham, Bilsdale and Darvel—will be resolved by the end of April.
According to Channel 5 Broadcasting, the use of frequency channel 35 could mean that an extra 4 million people will be able to receive the service, increasing coverage to over 80 per cent. of the population. The Government announced on 16 September 1996 that Channel 5 will have access to this frequency for a period of five years. Towards the end of this period, the Government will review the position on the development of the market for advance digital services and will make a judgment whether, and if so for what period of time, Channel 5 may continue to use the channel. In due course, the channel will be redeployed to facilitate the new digital broadcasting opportunities. We have agreed with Channel 5 that it is responsible for developing a sensible transition plan to enable the channel to be retrieved and for warning those customers affected that they may need to migrate in due course to alternative delivery mechanisms such as cable, satellite or digital terrestrial television.