Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2009/11/19/freeview_hd_kit/

No Freeview HD kit in time for launch, warns telly exec

Full rollout timetable revealed

By James Sherwood

Posted in Personal Tech, 19th November 2009 09:02 GMT

It's now clear that you'll need a new TV or set-top box (STB) to pick up Freeview HD. However, Register Hardware has learned that compatible kit won’t arrive in Blighty in time for the service’s debut early next month.

Richard Lindsay-Davis, Director General of the Digital TV Group (DTG), has admitted to us that “at this stage we can’t guarantee any [DVB-T2] receivers in the UK market before Christmas 2009”.

The news will come as a blow to early adopters living in London or Manchester, the first UK cities set to receive the Freeview HD signal, on 2 December.

While Freeview is based on DVB-T technology, Freeview HD uses DVB-T2 which uses the MPEG 4 AVC video codec. While manufacturers are developing STBs and TVs with the new tuner inside, Lindsay-Davis said that the DTG doesn’t expect such products to be available in the UK until at least January or February next year - and possibly later than that.

He also said that a Freeview HD STB – your only option if your don’t want to replace an HD TV with built-in Freeview – will likely cost “a little more” than an existing Freeview STB.

There is some good news in store, though, provided you’re a football fan.

Lindsay-Davis explained that, rather than a formal launch, the 2 December launch is essentially a test run for the service designed to ensure good quality of service and a strong signal in time for the 2010 World Cup. ®

HD Roll-out timetable

England

Area Transmitter group Date
Manchester Winter Hill 2 Dec 2009
London Crystal Palace 2 Dec 2009
Newcastle and Tyneside Pontop Pike Feb 2010
Leeds / Bradford Emley Moor March 2010
Birmingham Lichfield March 2010
Liverpool, central Lancashire, Cheshire, north Staffordshire Winter Hill relays March 2010
Exeter, parts of Devon, Somerset, Dorset Stockland Hill April 2010
Bristol, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire Mendip April 2010
Devon, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly Beacon Hill, Caradon Hill, Huntshaw Cross, Redruth Aug 2010
Cumbria and the Lake District Caldbeck Oct 2010

Then Freeview HD rolls out with the rest of the switchover programme:

2011

Bedfordshire, Berkshire (parts), Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, East Anglia, East Midlands, East Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Humberside, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire (parts), Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands (remainder), and West Yorkshire (remainder).

2012

Berkshire (remainder), County Durham, Greater London (remainder), Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Surrey, Sussex, Teesside, Tyneside.

Wales

Area Transmitter group Date
Cardiff, Newport Wenvoe March 2010
Swansea Kilvey Hill March 2010
west and central Wales Blaenplwyf March 2010
Carmarthenshire Carmel April 2010
rest of Wales Long Mountain, Moel y Parc, Presely June 2010
Anglesey Llanddona July 2010

Wales will have switched over to digital and the roll-out of Freeview HD will be complete by the end of July 2010.

Scotland

Area Transmitter group Date
Glasgow, central Scotland Black Hill Feb 2010
Shetland Bressay May 2010
Orkney Keelylang Hill May 2010
Caithness, North Sutherland Rumster Forest June 2010
Lewis, Wester Ross, North West Sutherland, Western Isles Eitshal, Skriaig July 2010
Angus, Dundee, Perth, and parts of Fife Angus Aug 2010
Aberdeenshire Durris Sept 2010
Morayshire, Strathspey, and parts of Easter Ross Knockmore Oct 2010
South West Scotland Caldbeck Scotland Oct 2010
Inverness and the Great Glen Rosemarkie Oct 2010
South West Highlands and Islands Torosay Oct 2010
Scottish Borders Selkirk Nov 2010

Northern Ireland

Freeview HD rolls out with the rest of the switchover programme so that the whole of Northern Ireland is switched over to digital and will be able to receive Freeview HD by the end of 2012.

Other areas

Area Transmitter group Date
Isle of Man Douglas Oct 2010
Channel Islands Fremont Point End 2010