Ofcom u-turn on digital dividend

Music festivals could be under threat

Ofcom looks set to change the way it sells off the airwaves freed up by the shift to digital TV.

It is planning to make a wider band of spectrum available for mobile broadband services than originally proposed.

The move has been welcomed by mobile operators who say it will make for cheaper and more flexible services.

But for those who organise concerts, musicals and outside broadcasts it is less good news as they seek a new home for the spectrum they rely on.

Retuned boxes

Originally Ofcom promised to safeguard spectrum in the 800Mhz band for wireless microphones and digital terrestrial TV services, but it appears to have had a change of heart.

Now it proposes to make the whole 800MHz band available for mobile broadband and related services and find "alternative spectrum" for wireless microphones and digital terrestrial TV.

For digital terrestrial TV viewers, it will mean that set-top boxes will have to be retuned, something Ofcom described as "a simple procedure that usually takes a few minutes to complete".

It said that the net benefits to consumers of changing the way spectrum is divvyed up could be worth