The BBC and ITV have just announced that they plan to launch a free High-Definition satellite service next spring. Therefore, if you feel that you are paying excessively much for a High-Definition service, then you have to move to the United Kingdom!
Called Freesat, the satellite dish will provide up to 200 standard and high-definition channels. The best part about this is that the service will be free, requiring absolutely no subscription fee.
As of now, majority of people in the United Kingdom use Freeview, a service that offers free programming to homes via off-air antennas. However, many British residents cannot get Freeview because of lack of signal strength.
With the launch of BBC and ITV’s Freesat, this new service will definitely be seen as a new alternative to the existing Freeview service.
According to BBC executive, Mark Thompson, the free satellite service in intended to accelerate the nation’s transition to Digital TV, now scheduled for completion in 2012.
“Its primary purpose is to drive digital take-up in analog homes, particularly in those areas which are out of digital terrestrial coverage,” Thompson said. Freesat also offers a trusted free-to-view digital upgrade path that gives…all the benefits of digital television (notably High Definition capability) guaranteed free of subscription,” Thompson added.
Now, the BBC and ITV are collaborating with various CE companies, retailers and installers to develop products and related services that could possibly employ the Freesat high-definition dish service.
However, it is yet unclear how much the Freesat dish and equipment will cost.