Sky has announced plans to provide a terrestrial digital TV service in the UK; allowing reception of Sky's pay-TV services over a normal TV aerial. The service will need a new set-top box, and will use the spectrum currently occupied by Sky's three Freeview channels.

By using MPEG4 encoding the service won't conform to the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) standard, which mandates MPEG2, but it will be able to deliver four channels where Sky 3, Sky News and Sky Sports News currently live.

Sky's move into terrestrial digital tackles the satellite dish issue, and although the company's taking a risk by rolling out its own technical standard, it's shown in the past that keeping prices low makes its products attractive to consumers.

Sky will still need approval from Ofcom, and National Grid Wireless (transmitter of Sky's current terrestrial channels) might raise technical issues. ®

Related stories

• Branson points legal sabre at Sky (6 March 2007)
• Updated: Sky takes ball and goes home (1 March 2007)
• Sky goes dark for Virgin Media (28 February 2007)
• EC unveils strategy for spectrum liberalisation (21 February 2007)
• IPTV: Creating a flexible network core (7 February 2007)
• Ofcom reaches for pause on Beeb downloads (23 January 2007)
• Signs that Sky will go mobile? (19 January 2007)
• Sky goes VoD after shipping 2m Sky+ boxes (3 January 2007)