ITWire

The rabble-rousers and outraged tabloid readers/listeners/viewers are getting hot under the collar about a $300 million budget allocation for the Household Assistance Scheme associated with the digital TV switchover. I reckon their concern could be misplaced.

A five year agreement between the government-owned Australian Broadcasting Corporation and telco supplier Ericsson will see free-to-air digital TV made available Australia-wide, including rural communities. The agreement will involve the ABC using Ericsson's satellite video compression technology to expand the reach of digital TV.

Optus has been awarded contracts by multiple broadcasters to transmit digital free-to-air services into areas where terrestrial digital TV isn't available.