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Stephen Timms MPMaking Digital Relevant |
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| I am delighted to be here at 'the epicentre' [of the digital media industry ] this morning. Thank you for your welcome. On taking over from Douglas as Minister for E-commerce and competitiveness, I was looking through his Ministerial engagements and I was particularly pleased to see this conference coming up on "Making Digital Relevant" – focusing on the needs of consumers. Consumers determine the adoption of new technology. For new technologies to succeed they must be relevant, they must address consumer wants and needs. That is as true of Digital television as it is of broadband communications, or 3G mobile or any of the other technological innovations which will be preoccupying me at the DTI in the months ahead.
The growth of digital Television has developed almost beyond recognition from the first black and white sets over the last 80 years, to today's wide screen sets and plasma screens. Digital television takes that history of development a significant stage further. Digital services were first launched in the UK, in late 1998. Take up since then has grown with remarkable speed. After less than four years, over 9 million households now take digital services, placing the UK squarely at the forefront of the digital TV revolution, well ahead of every other country. Digital technology enhances the television experience in a significant way. It offers a much wider choice of programmes, and better quality picture and sound. It offers features which analogue cannot offer, like the chance to interact with a broadcast – to call up background text, to change the camera view or to pick out the answer in a quiz. Last year, over a million people watching Wimbledon used interactive television. They could choose which match they watched from a selection of up to five courts, and call up background facts and statistics on players. And now, for the World Cup, digital viewers are able to find out more about the players and change the camera angles. "Pressing the red button" is becoming a well-known phrase amongst all viewers. They do not need to know anything about the technology – they just need to understand that pressing the red button brings them extra features that are not available with ordinary analogue television. These services we see emerging are making big differences to people's lives, and there will be many more of them as the technology and its applications develop. We recognise our responsibility in ensuring that these services are available to everybody, in every walk of life – that they help to reduce the gaps in our society, rather than contribute to making them greater. So we are committed to switching over from analogue to digital television. On Satellite the switch has already happened. BSkyB stopped analogue services last autumn having switched all its viewers in just three years. It was a very impressive achievement. The cable companies, NTL and Telewest are offering both analogue and digital services today, and have it in hand to manage the switch for their customers too. For terrestrial television, the Government has a particular role to play in the process. It is a process in which the ITC will play a leading role and which solutions developed by industry will make possible. But we are the guardians of the radio spectrum. We have to ensure that the resource is harnessed in a way that maximises the economic and social benefits to Britain. In September 1999, Chris Smith set down the two criteria which need to be met before we could start to switch off the analogue terrestrial transmissions – the two criteria of availability and affordability. Firstly, availability. Everyone who currently receives free-to-air analogue channels should be able, after switchover, to receive those same channels digitally. At the moment, the main free-to-air channels, including teletext, reach virtually everyone in the UK – 99. 4% is the figure for availability. We need to ensure that those same channels are available in digital form across the whole country - including in remote and rural areas. That is no easy task, but it needs to be accomplished before we can embark on switching off analogue terrestrial transmissions. Secondly, affordability. Consumers must not face unacceptable switching costs when moving to digital services, either for televisions or for video recorders. We are not prepared to move in such a way that people on low and fixed incomes are excluded from the digital revolution. Full switch over will take place when - and only when - these two tests of availability and affordability are met. Of course, we have seen some serious setbacks here with the failure of ITV Digital. But the deadline for tender applications for the licences handed back by ITV Digital is this week and our view remains that those two criteria could still be met between 2006 and 2010, and we will need of course to keep progress under close review. The Digital Television Action Plan That is one of the reasons why, in December last year, we put forward the Digital Television Action Plan. It deals with our twin aims of achieving the most dynamic and competitive market for Digital TV in the G7, and meeting the criteria for switchover to digital television. It recognises the scale of the technical and social preparations which will need to be made for switchover. It provides a framework for the success of Digital Television as a whole in the UK, across all delivery platforms. It is continually evolving – it is available on the web, on the digitaltelevison.gov web site, and it provides a roadmap – a basis for co-operation between Government, industry and consumers. And we see that partnership as key to the success of the Plan. There are things that we can do in Government, but responsibility for many of the key steps will lie with others. That is why we see the Digital Television Stakeholders Group as so important, with its membership drawn from broadcasters, transmitter network operators, content providers, manufacturers, retailers and consumer bodies. The Stakeholders Group held its first meeting in January and took two key decisions – first, to accept the Action Plan, and, second, to appoint Barry Cox as Chairman. We have also established a new Spectrum Planning Advisory Group with representatives from broadcasters, other potential spectrum users and consumers; a market preparation group with broadcasters, consumers and manufacturers which will produce a marketing communications plan by the end of this month; and a technology and equipment group with representatives from broadcasters, manufacturers and network operators. What we have in hand is a huge national effort. I am looking forward immensely to working with Barry and all those participating in the Stakeholders Group, with my DCMS colleague Kim Howells, towards our shared aim of making digital television a reality for everyone – our determination that the UK should build upon our success to date, and provide for all our citizens the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of digital TV. Delivering the content Delivering the content which will engage and enthuse potential users is one of the key challenges. The wide range of companies producing digital content come from many different sectors, from TV, web-design, publishing and others. So in this tremendously creative effort we need new, cross sector relationships and alliances. Games companies are speaking to mobile phone providers, broadcasters are talking to web-designers. Ensuring that the content fits the delivery channel, and that the delivery channel is appropriate for the content. We have in the UK a thriving content industry. Victoria Real is a great example and Richard Daws is here on the platform. As delivery platforms become more widely available, there is a tremendous opportunity to develop those content businesses. The DTI is working closely with the Digital Content Forum, the organisation that brings together representative bodies from across the spectrum of sectors with an interest, to focus on common issues, to help break down traditional sector boundaries, and for the benefit of Britain as a whole, to help content businesses grow to their full potential. The Forum, with Government help, has looked at the potential for applying the new R & D tax credits to digital content development and, has been examining the critical area of skills. It will shortly be publishing the results of its skills mapping exercise, identifying the skills needed for content developers at various points in their careers and for the various delivery platforms. A priority has, of course, also been broadband and last year the DTI and DCF jointly held "Broadband Britain : The Content Challenge". It was a high-level summit bringing together a unique mix of industry and government decision makers from both the infrastructure and content supply sides and it included the contributions of four Government Ministers. Building the demand But, what happens when the service is available and affordable but the individual says "no thanks – I don't want that,"? What are we going to do about people who have had their TV sets for years and years and are perfectly content with their existing five channels? How do we address the challenge of people who see no attraction in the benefits that Digital TV has to offer? The title of this conference provides the clue. We'll need to do some convincing. We'll need to ensure that digital is relevant. We need to provide services that are wanted, and then show individuals how those services can really make a difference to them. One example of something that might make a difference to somebody who can no longer drive or manage public transport is the ability to order their shopping through the television. Or the service that is running in the area that I represent in East London, in the London borough of Newham where I was once the Leader of the Council, where there is a service which allows local authority tenants to report a repair and book a maintenance call, again through the television. If we get it right in terms of new services and ease of access and communicating the benefits, then technophobes and the technologically timid could be amongst the biggest winners in the switch to digital, with new services to improve the quality of their lives. A range of attractive public services is becoming available. There are, for example, interactive health information services, based on the popular NHS Direct Website. They are being piloted in London, in Birmingham and in Hull. They give people fast and convenient access to health information, from first aid advice to patient case studies. Many people could find those invaluable. The UK online digital channel was launched in Spring, based on the Government's UK online portal. It allows people to access government information 24 hours a day, without needing to be connected to the Internet. More widely, the ability of digital TV to enable people who would never go near a PC to access the Internet via the TV is a huge opportunity for UK companies, and one we want to see realised. The TV is a much more familiar device, one that people of all ages are comfortable with - a bridge across the digital divide, bringing the Internet to more people in more homes. Consumer take-up will be generated by quality interactive content services at the right price. Look at the phenomenon of Big Brother, offering a full range of interactive opportunities for the viewer, be that via the PC, TV or via text messages to your mobile phone for the latest updates. And we are seeing other successful clues to the changes, which the dawn of digital will usher in. For example, the UK start-up, 'Static 2358,' purchased last year by Open TV, launched an interactive games channel, 'Play-jam,' which is already profitable in Europe and is used on average by 15 million people each month. And the Playjam games are widening the games-playing customer base. 53% of Playjam gamers are women, in contrast to the games console world where the typical gamer is still the 20-something male. And so we see an example of digital television significantly expanding the market – a phenomenon of which we expect many more examples in the future. The way in which people receive their information and their entertainment is going through a period of fundamental and rapid transformation. The pace of change is not going to slacken off – it is more likely to accelerate. Twice the number of UK homes has access today to digital television than the European average. Digital TV has grown faster in this country than was the case with mobile phones, the Internet or even colour TV. But, we still have real challenges to face if we are going to reap the full benefits. The manufacturers are beginning to produce affordable set top boxes, which the retailers are happy to sell. The broadcasters are tackling the technical issues of transmission. The programme makers are developing attractive content. We are working together on putting the message across to consumers – on Making Digital Relevant. But in all these areas there is more we need to do. This conference is a reminder of what the technology is actually for – the realities of what digital television can achieve – the potential it can fulfil. My request is that we continue to work together in all these areas, for the benefit of course of all the organisations represented here, but in reality for the benefit of everyone in Britain. I wish you well in all your deliberations today. Thank you for giving me the chance to address you. |
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Other speeches by Stephen Timms MP
(the following are available from the archive) |
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