Ofcom allocates two more HD/DTT licences

Ofcom has decided to award the two remaining HD DTT slots to Channel 4 (with Welsh service S4) and ITV. The third slot is already allocated for HD DTT use by the BBC.
Multiplex B is in the process of being cleared so that all the HD services can initially have a common platform to begin broadcasting.  This will take place on a regional basis as each region converts to an all digital platform.
HD DTT will begin in the Granada region during 2009 followed by Wales, Scotland and the West Country in 2010, Central, Yorkshire, Anglia and Meridian in 2011 and London, Tyne Tees and Ulster in 2012.
Ofcom also believe that a fourth HD service could be launched on the DTT platform as early as 2010 but doesn’t say how this can be achieved.
The new HD service will use MPEG-4, H.264, AVC compression and the DVB-T2 terrestrial digital TV standard.
Source: Ofcom press release
Item added: 20th October 2008