Analogue television screens went black in Mildura on Wednesday the 30th June, as the Victorian city became the first in Australia to flick the switch on the aging TV network, ushering in the digital-only era. But while three out of every ten Australian households are yet to embrace digital television technology, it was estimated that only 200 households (1 per cent of the population) found themselves with no television signal in Mildura today.
Despite a widespread campaign on the need to upgrade to a digital television or set top box, a number of people (around 600 households) chose not to convert to digital, said Andy Townend, Executive Director of the Digital Switchover Taskforce.
Regional South Australia and Broken Hill in NSW far west are the next regions earmarked for analogue switch off, on December 15, followed by the Murrumbidgee, Riverina and Illawarra regions early in 2012.
The capital cites will not switch over until December 2013.
Full details of the rollout plan are available on the Digital Ready website (Digital Switch over task force) http://www.digitalready.gov.au/rolloutmap_NSW.aspx
