Further supplementary memorandum submitted
by the Head of Public Affairs, BBC
BBC estimates for spectrum charging provided
to the Select Committee were:
| 2012-13 | £120 million
| (2 SD multiplexes) |
| 2013-14 | £180 million
| (3 multiplexes) |
| |
|
The assumptions underlying this were:
— DTT multiplex charging of £60 million per
annum per mux.
— Charging comes in post-switchover for both BBC
muxes (although the BBC could face charging for mux 1 from 2010).
— Although the BBC should only need two thirds of
a mux for HD simulcasts of BBCs 1 & 2 (the minimum effective
DTT offering), if technology doesn't advance as fast as we expect,
we may need an entire mux just for HD, hence 3 muxes charged from
2013-14.
As Ofcom are still deliberating on how much broadcasters
ought to pay for DTT muxes, and we're unlikely to have a steer
on this until the end of the year, the estimated annual cost per
mux was based on Ofcom's consultation on spectrum pricing (29
Sept 2004) [6]which confirmed
the March 2004 report by Indepen et al[7],
which suggested a charge of £57 million per mux would be
appropriate.
The estimates supplied for charging do not take account of
the auction price for the released spectrum needed for an HD mux
(which could result in a higher price than £57 million) or
for spectrum charging for PMSE (digital wireless cameras, radio
mics etc) usage nor for spectrum for Radio.
19 October 2005
6
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/spec-pricing/spec-pricing/spec-pricing.pdf
(p45) Back
7
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/radiocomms/reports/independent
review/spectrum pricing.pdf Back
| 
