Millions of motorists will be forced to spend hundreds of pounds replacing or converting their car radios with new digital sets.
The coalition Government is to press on with controversial plans to switch off FM and medium wave radio in favour of digital – leaving much of the nation with no option but to pay out for new equipment both at home and in the car.
Despite serious concerns that the public neither wants nor is ready for the change, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce he will stick with Labour’s plans for a mass switchover in the next five years.
Switchover: Cars will need to be fitted with digital radios before analogue sets become obsolete by 2015
The move will cost consumers hundreds of pounds as they are forced to update and change their analogue radios at home and in their cars, before they become obsolete.
As many as 100 million analogue radios will become largely redundant after 2015 and around 20 million car radios will be useless - leaving many without their favourite stations.
Around 20 per cent of all radio listening happens in cars but only 1 per cent of all cars currently have the capability to receive digital stations.
Motorists will either have to replace their car radios at a cost of some £300 or buy special ‘conversion’ kits that must be attached to the windscreen, often alongside Satnavs, which could also cost more than £100.
LAST ANALOGUE TV IS SOLD
Analogue television is now extinct in the high street with digital sets now the only type on sale.
Research by Digital UK, which is tasked with overseeing television’s switchover, revealed this week that for the first time 100 per cent of sets sold were digital.
The World Cup is credited with sounding the death knell for analogue television by boosting sales of digital sets by nine per cent prompting retailers to reject the older televisions.
Consumers have increasingly been demanding televisions with digital and HD capability rendering traditional screens are now all but obsolete in the high street.
David Scott, chief executive of Digital UK, said 13,000 stores across the country were surveyed.
He added: ‘With a quarter of the country already fully switched to digital TV and a further 11 million homes due to switch next year, it’s good news that retailers have finally stopped selling analogue sets.
‘Having said that, people shouldn’t assume they need to replace their TV for switchover, virtually any old television can be easily converted to digital simply by connecting a digital box.’
This year Britons have bought nearly a million televisions a month with the average purchase price £400.
It is estimated that there are 60 million televisions in the UK – almost as many as there are people.
Last month the Office for National Statistics said the population had reached 61.8 million.
DAB sets for the home cost from £20 for a basic radio to £200 for waterproof, rechargeable versions that can be used outside.
The plans will hit motorists and pensioners hardest but most ordinary homes have two or three radios – and the expense of replacing them all will mount up for everyone.
The outgoing Labour Government was not able to put the 2015 date into its Digital Economy Act, which was rushed through during its last days of power this April.
But a Government source said it would try to stick with Labour’s planned timetable, meaning every household will have to own either a digital radio or have a TV in the next five years.
Senior Tory Lord Fowler, chair of the communications committee, warned the public ‘were not prepared’ for it.
He said: ‘These are people who do a lot of radio listening and if you’ve got four or five radios dotted around the house, then replacing them means the cost adds up.
‘The public have got to be taken with the process on this otherwise there is going to be something of an explosion of indignation.’
Digital platforms, including DAB radio, television and online accounted for 24 per cent of all radio listening in the first three months of this year, according to Rajar figures published in May.
This is an increase of almost four per cent on the same period in 2009 but still a small proportion of the nation.
Currently, DAB coverage reaches about 90 per cent of the population but is extremely patchy in hilly areas such as Snowdonia in Wales and the Peak District in England. FM coverage, meanwhile, runs at more than 99 per cent.
Critics also say that the quality of the reception can vary wildly and is often poorer than FM.
After 2015 there is likely to be a phase out period where FM, MW and digital offerings run alongside each other in order to ensure everyone has adjusted.
This phase out process could happen region by region, following the television model.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has said incorporating digital radios into new models by 2015 would ‘be a challenge, but achievable’ but that still leaves tens of millions of older cars requiring conversion.
Earlier this year the communications committee published a report urging caution on radio switchover.
It said: ‘We recommend that the Government, in collaboration with the manufacturers, should provide guidance to the public on in-car digital listening, including advice on conversion kits available and likely to be available within the timeframe of digital switchover.’
Mr Hunt is expected to reveal his definitive time line and plans for digital radio tomorrow.
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