I’ve already commented on the transfer of the UKs radio stations to digital only by 2015 announced in the “Digital Britain” report yesterday. Also in the report, buried on p78 was an interesting comment on the channel 69 radio mic spectrum. It reads as follows;

“The Government is committed to the timely release of 800 spectrum and will work with Ofcom to understand and meet the technical challenges. It has already endorsed Ofcom’s proposal setting out its plans to clear channels 61, 62 and 69. The Government will facilitate this re-planning and will meet the costs incurred by broadcasters and PMSE users as a result of these changes.”

It will be interesting to see what we are offered as current users of channel 69. The whole report can be read here.

I’ve been asked a lot recently what people should do if they need to buy radio mics now. As far as I can see their are currently three options as it seems very unlikely that the government will provide funding to replace mics in 2012 if they are purchased now.

1. Don’t buy, rent instead. if that’s going to cost you more than the value of the mic before 2012 then it might be worth buying anyway.

2. Buy a microphone that works on channel 70 (the licence free band), even if it includes channel 69 and you licence and use that up until 2012 at least you will be able to use channel 70 for free after that. This is probably the best option for community groups who may not want to buy a licence anyway. Be aware though that there may be more traffic on channel 70 after 2012 as others do the same thing.

3. Buy a channel 69 mic but be a knowledgable buyer! Ask your supplier if the mic you are buying can be converted to channel 38 in the future and what the costs will be. Ask them if they will “future proof” that mic for you by doing the conversion when you need it at a fixed price.