Resilience requires action to tackle vulnerabilities and preparedness for a wide range of scenarios. It depends on systems that continue to function when others fail, and on avoiding unnecessary single points of failure. This doctrine applies especially to communications. Yet broadcasting policy has often operated in a silo, considered separately from the wider resilience debate.
This report fills that gap. It examines the unique resilience value of the tall tower network which broadcasts Digital Terrestrial Television and supports a range of communications services beyond television, such as radio, mobile and emergency services communications. It assesses the implications of withdrawing the UK’s only universal broadcast television platform in 2034 and considers the consequences of relying entirely on internet-based distribution.
