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UK to complete digital TV transition in October 2012

UK to complete digital TV transition in October 2012

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The U.K. is scheduled to complete its transition from analog to digital TV by October 24th, 2012. Northern Ireland will be the last place to receive the switchover, after which people without satellite or cable subscriptions will have to buy either set-top box converters or digital TVs in order to continue watching over the air broadcasts. The analog spectrum freed by the transition will be auctioned off to wireless carriers in late 2012 to use for high-speed LTE. The U.S. has undergone a similar transition, having mostly converted to digital TV with the exception of a few low power stations. AT&T and Verizon are already using much of the reallocated spectrum to build their LTE networks.