Supplementary memorandum submitted by
BBC
SWITCHOVER HEARINGS
FOLLOW-UP
QUESTIONS
I am writing to answer the outstanding questions
you have raised following from the BBC's evidence session.
Q127—Actual numbers of aerials needing replacement
As you note in your email to me, Graham Plumb
gave an estimate in his subsequent answer, to Q128, which is that
the best estimate of aerials that will need to be upgraded is
clO% according to OFCOM and that remains the BBC's view.
Q134—Detector Vans and Switchover
When the BBC's current detector vans were commissioned
we planned for digital switchover, so the vans will needonly minor
modifications to the computer cards on board following digital
switchover.
You asked about a a question put by your Chairman
during oral evidence from Arqiva/NGW about the cost of transmitter
conversion and the BBC's Licence Fee bid: could you provide a
breakdown of the £700 million figure he referred to please?
The BBC's £700 million figure is the additional
costs (over and above current business) for the first seven years
of the next Charter period for building digital Britain. This
cost includes Freesat, DAB, HDTV, new coding and multiplexing
facilities for satellite and DTT, new contribution and distribution
circuits and the phased build out of the digital transmission
network for switchover.
The £500 million figure quoted by the transmission
companies is, we presume, just the capital cost for the equipment
to be installed at the 1,154 transmitting stations. But we do
not know if that is for all six muxes or for how many sites. Again,
we presume that it does not include other site access charges
or the operating costs (power, light, heating, rent, rates, maintenance,
etc).
Thus the actual transmission cost for switchover
on an on-going basis is much more than £500 million. And
this doesn't include all the non-transmission related infrastructure
that needs to be purchased by broadcasters—eg distribution
circuits, coding and multiplexing.
Finally, you asked for the provenance of our
estimate of the net cost of switching from the current terrestrial
analogue and digital broadcasting mix to full digital terrestrial
of £70 million per annum. The current annual cost (in 2006
prices) is: analogue TV (BBC One and BBC Two) £26 million;
and DTT Mux 1 and Mux B (80 transmitters) £24 million approximately;
making a total of £50 million. The estimated annual post
switchover cost (in 2013 prices) is DTT Mux 1 and Mux B (98.5%
coverage) transmission and coding and multiplexing and circuits,
£120 million, making a difference of £70 million per
annum.
20 January 2006
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