Crisis in sound

The vast majority of the UK’s wireless microphones will become unusable after the ‘digital switchover’, due to an “enforced migration” to new and smaller bandwidths, according to a new campaign. Save Our Sound UK (SOS UK) has brought together 20 organisations from the arts and entertainment sectors to lobby against the Government’s plans to sell off 15 of the 8MHz frequency bands, which currently carry analogue TV channels, and which will be freed up by the switch to digital TV and radio. SOS UK believes that the change will have a catastrophic effect on live performance, and adversely affect film-making, conferences and church, school and community events. It will affect not just radio microphones, but also in-ear monitor systems and talkback applications. Radio microphones are extensively used in large-scale outdoor concerts, but also for theatre productions, concerts and musical theatre. SOS UK says that “all equipment that operates in the frequencies due to be sold will be rendered unusable… They will also become illegal to use.” The industry will have to invest in new equipment which can operate in the replacement frequencies. AP reported in February that OFCOM, the regulatory body in charge of the digital switchover, has estimated the replacement cost of equipment at between £5m and £18m (AP188). However, SOS UK claim it will “cost tens of millions of pounds”. Music promoter Harvey Goldsmith said that there would be “no second chance to secure the future of those affected. The time to act is now.” A spokesperson from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) told AP that “we recognise the concerns of these industries that require [wireless] spectrum to operate... OFCOM has identified a replacement band for their use. We are currently considering the views of all stakeholders who were consulted on a suitable funding package to support the transition, prior to finalising a decision on the financial help we can offer.”

Duncan Bell, from the British Entertainment Industry Radio Group, which is a member of the campaign, urged BIS “to focus on the issue that SOS UK is actually campaigning for”, and called for the Government “to fully compensate all those whose equipment will be rendered redundant as a consequence of the clearance from TV bands 31 to 37 and 61 to 69”. Speaking to AP, he explained that the sector would not be migrating from one single TV band to another. “As OFCOM is fully aware, even medium-sized events and productions need access to far more than one single TV band,” he said. According to SOS UK, OFCOM has only consulted on funding for equipment operating on one of the 15 TV bands which the sector currently uses (channel 69). “This statement is not encouraging,” Bell added. “If the compensation package does not cover all equipment that will be rendered redundant... live events will be devastated and many will simply not be able to take place at all.” Louise de Winter, Director of the National Campaign for the Arts, called the issue “a matter of moral obligation as well as public policy” and pointed to the significant sums of money which the auction of the newly released bandwidths would make for the Government.

AP put these points to BIS, which replied: “The Government has no plans to offer funding in respect of the clearance of other bands.”