2 December 2005
Europe is aiming to be entirely digital by 2012 after EU ministers supported a plan to impose a fresh deadline for switchover from analogue TV yesterday.
The UK's plans should fall within this date, though its projected analogue switch-off time has already changed to 2012 from the government's initial target of 2010 - by which time ten member states that have said they should have completed the switch.
It is hoped that the rest of the states will be in a similar position two years later, but five have apparently given no indication regarding their potential readiness.
Alun Michael, industry minister for Britain, which currently holds the EU presidency, announced: "We agreed today that most EU countries will try to complete the transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting by 2012. That is an important development.
"It would create big problems if we tried to do it earlier than that."
The Borders ITV region will be the first UK area to switch entirely to digital, with this expected to take place in 2008.
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