What can be done about the difficulties with digital television access in Dorset?
I recognise the problem we face in South Dorset with regard to access to digital television – and have campaigned government to address the lack of access in rural areas. Background Planning a DTT transmitter network is quite complicated. No additional frequency spectrum has been allocated to DTT services. Therefore, the BBC and Independent Television Commission (ITC), who are primarily responsible for the technical work have had to undertake the extremely difficult task of interspersing DTT plans between existing national and international analogue transmissions. In particular, it has been necessary to impose restrictions, for example on the power of transmissions, to protect existing analogue services against interference from DTT. The planning process has been especially difficult in some parts of the UK, where there is already a high concentration of analogue relays and, consequently, spectrum is particularly scarce. The launch phase for DTT, therefore, concentrates on the main tra
