Welsh trial gives thumbs up to DTV

net1

The big digital switchover appears to be off to a promising start. The residents of Welsh communities Ferryside and Llansteffan gave a generally upbeat view on an experiment there to give everyone a free Freeview set-top box, ahead of the switch-off of the local analogue signal in February.

Four hundred and fifty homes in the two villages either side of the Tywi estuary were chosen last December for the joint Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Department for Trade and Industry trial to determine key issues behind digital switchover.

Among those viewing multichannel TV for the first time is the Barnes household. Margaret Barnes, 85, told The Guardian: "The Discovery and history channels are good. And we watched Lesley Garrett on BBC2. The radio is very good too. Better than our old wireless."

Another Ferryside resident, Diana Sleeman, said: "I'm not absolutely au fait with everything yet. But it's splendid. Good viewing all the way."

The two Welsh communities were selected for the trial because they received their analogue television signal from a single relay, which often resulted in poor reception.