Dear Kate

I have within the last hour come across the consultation being carried out by the DCMS into the BBC’s digital radio and television services. Unfortunately with the closing date imminent, it means that I will not be able to respond in the required fashion to the terms of reference, I simply do not have the time. However I do hope that the little that I am able to write on the matter can be considered. 

I feel very strongly that millions of licence fee payers in this country are being treated as second class citizens in relation to the provision of digital services by the BBC. The licence fee is a one charge tax, and in days gone by it was paid by all the viewers and listeners of the BBC’s services. You would not be expected to pay if you could pick up a television or radio signal. Yet what we witness today is a totally different scenario, regardless of whether you are able to pick up the BBC’s digital services we are all expected to pay for them. 

The BBC proudly boasts on its web site that DAB digital radio now reaches 85 % of the population. That leaves 15 million people in licence fee paying families unable to receive any BBC DAB signal at all yet they are all still expected to pay exactly the same licence fee charge. Only a small proportion of television transmitters are capable of transmitting digital terrestrial signals yet the licence fee is exactly the same regardless of whether or not you are able to receive the signal. The BBC state that they are not responsible for the problems with DTT signalling as it is the responsibility of the DCMS to decide when to shut down the analogue transmitters so that a digital signal can be broadcast in its place. The same does not apply to the cities of the UK as there appears to be ample transmitters in place to broadcast both the analogue and DTT signal, it only applies to those licence fee payers living outside the large conurbations, who as always are expected to pay the same level of fee but for a much reduced level of service. The rollout of new digital radio transmitters is now almost complete and the BBC when asked about future developments announced that “they will try to expand the digital radio network in conjunction with commercial operators”. This of course did not apply to those licence fee payers living in our cities, they had new transmitters built courtesy of the BBC. Not one single licence fee payer in Wales had any benefit at all from the recent increase in DAB coverage as not one new transmitter was added to the system in Wales. This is a situation that quite obviously cannot continue. 

A licence fee payer living in London is serviced well by the BBC, every mode of delivery is catered for and every system delivered. However for licence fee payers living in say, mid or south Wales who are paying exactly the same amount of levy the choice is limited to say the least. 

In the short term I believe that the one fair way of dealing with this disparity is to levy two different levels of licence fee. An analogue fee would be payable by those who are not served by terrestrial digital signals and a digital fee by those who are able to receive the digital signal. This would be the same situation that existed at the advent of colour television where a black and licence was payable by viewers whose transmitters could not broadcast a colour signal. I feel that something should be done before there real disillusionment with the whole digital process.

Regards

Tony Lewis