Representatives of Save Our Sound UK have attended a meeting at HM Treasury where once again the plight of the PMSE sector was laid before Government officials. During the meeting it was stated that Treasury and BIS (Department for Business Innovation and Skills) are trying to find a compensation scheme that is the right one. However, industry representatives are fearful that any scheme, when and if finalised, could eventually prove to be no more generous than the terms originally proposed by Ofcom - the reason for launching the Save Our Sound UK campaign in the first place.
Save Our Sound UK say: "On current evidence, Government would still appear to be sticking to the line that only Channel 69 capable equipment will qualify and that compensation levels will be based on residual value of equipment. The effect of this will be to exclude owners of equipment that does not tune to Channel 69 but will still be rendered redundant as a result of PMSE's eviction from Channels 31-37 and 61-68. Additionally, owners of Channel 69 equipment would end up receiving a small fraction of the true value of their equipment.
"The previous Government's position was to ensure that any compensation package should leave the PMSE sector 'no better, no worse off' as a result of the changes to spectrum access. The new coalition administration has yet to commit to this and Save Our Sound UK is extremely concerned that it may not.
"Final decisions have yet to be made on the structure and scope of any compensation package but it is possible that things will be finalised by the end of July 2010, before Parliament rises for summer recess.
"Consequently, Save Our Sound UK is urging supporters to contact their recently-elected MPs as a matter of urgency to highlight the issues and ask them to pursue a satisfactory outcome for the PMSE sector."
A step-by-step guide on how to do this is available on the Save Our Sound UK website, at the address below.
(Lee Baldock)
