New Clause 1 - Digital television
Office of Communications Bill [Lords]
5:15 pm
Mrs Anne McIntosh (Vale of York, Conservative)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
I am grateful for this opportunity to move new clause 1, Mr. Gale. Several new clauses were tabled that have not been called for debate, and I hope that we shall have an opportunity to discuss them on a future occasion.
New clause 1 speaks for itself. Paragraph 72 of the report on the White Paper ''A New Future for Communications'' by the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport urges the Government to consider that
Access to the Internet can be an important driver of the take-up of digital television, and the expansion of digital television services can be fundamental to achievement of the Government's objective of universal Internet access by 2005.
This debate gives us an opportunity to ask the Minister to confirm whether that is still the Government's objective. The Select Committee went on to say that it is also
concerned that these links are not readily apparent in the two separate Government policies at present.
It recommends that
the promotion of Internet access through digital television become a more prominent element in Government policy for the Internet and that the promotion of digital television by the Government and the industry lay greater stress than is currently evident on digital television as an easy and affordable gateway to the Internet.
The Government's reply to that was very positive, saying that
the digital television action plan should ensure that the synergies between Internet access, digital television and the delivery of Government services electronically are developed. Linked with a telephone line, the television (analogue or digital) can provide an easy means of gaining access to the Internet for those without a personal computer (PC). Much of the material available on the Internet, however, is designed for access through a PC, and we must be careful to see that consumers are not deterred from using the Internet by a poor early experience through the television.
The BBC told us that the take-up of digital television has been rapid. In three years, more than 9 million homes—more than a third of the country—have gone digital. The BBC reckons that nearly half of the nation's children, 46 per cent., live in a house with digital television. The vast majority of homes with digital television have chosen one of the three pay-television options, and the BBC goes on to elaborate those. The downside is that two thirds of the population remain on analogue, and most have only five channels. Among that group the story is one of overriding confusion about digital, and I would probably count myself as such a person.
Many people are unsure what digital offers or how they could go about getting it if they wanted it. The range of providers, packages and platforms is daunting. Broadly, the older people are, the less they know about digital and the less they think they want it. Just more than one third of people think that they are likely to go digital in the next five years; just under a half think that they may go digital; 21 per cent. think that they will stay analogue. A point that was made forcibly during the Christmas shopping period and the January sales was that nine out of 10 sets sold in 2001 were analogue. The Government seem to want to switch to digital, but we do not see the action to make that a reality.