Arqiva has responded to the UK government’s Media Green Paper with a proposal to manage Digital Terrestrial Television through to a 2044 switch-off. Current policy protects DTT until at least 2034, but the company argues that an additional decade would reduce audience and infrastructure risk during the move to IP delivery.
The proposal says valuable spectrum could still be released by 2034 while the remaining terrestrial network is consolidated. Arqiva estimates that this approach could reduce broadcaster transmission costs by as much as 50 per cent and energy consumption by around 40 per cent, while preserving universal access to public-service channels and a resilient path that does not depend entirely on household broadband.
For distribution engineering, the key idea is that spectrum clearance and platform closure do not have to happen on the same date. A smaller DTT layer could serve viewers and resilience needs while broadband coverage, devices and operational support mature.
This is a company proposal, not government policy. The public summary does not expose the modelling assumptions, transmitter consolidation plan, required receiver changes, multiplex capacity or funding arrangements. The cost and energy figures therefore need independent examination.
