On Friday last week I joined a special event at Sandgate Primary school organised by Digital Radio UK. Its purpose was to mark the switching on of the final of nine new digital radio transmitters for Kent. These now mean that 95% of homes and businesses in the county should be able to receive a good digital radio signal. This will also enable people to use a digital radio in their vehicles when driving around the local area. Digital radio provides the same improvement in the quality of signal and the variety of channels available, as was the case with the TV switchover when the old analogue transmitters were switched off. With radio, the investment in digital infrastructure provides an improvement to the quality of the sound you receive, but the old FM signal is still available as well. In time, as digital radio becomes generally available, it will become the main platform. It is also possible to convert antique radio sets so that they can receive digital signals.
For the big transmitter switch on at Sandgate primary, I was joined by representatives from local radio stations, including Heart, KMFM and Radio Kent. It was clear that our young audience in the school’s hall were all keen radio listeners, particularly for music. This shows that whilst the internet and video games have growing appeal, people of all ages still love radio.
The investment in digital coverage also shows how it should be possible to improve mobile phone coverage in the rural areas of the district. In the New Year the government will require a 90% coverage target for all mobile phone operators. Alongside this new data will be published by the media regulator, Ofcom, which will show the current levels of coverage, both inside properties and on the streets. I recently raised in the House of Commons, during the debate on the Digital Economy Bill, the poor mobile phone signal in the North Downs area. Here the real level of coverage is worse than officially stated, so it is important that more accurate data will soon be available, which reflects peoples actual experience of using the service.
If it can be demonstrated that the real coverage levels for the mobile phone operators are below the 90% target they have been set by the government, they will be required to build new masts or risk being find by Ofcom, or even losing their license. Whilst a 90% coverage target will be a big improvement in Shepway, we need to go further. I have raised this with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and I am pleased that they are now consulting with the phone companies for a 100% coverage requirement. This would create an obligation similar to the requirement that the government has set for a universal service obligation for superfast broadband, by 2020. This means that anyone who wants a broadband service that delivers at least 10mbps will have the legal right to request and receive it.