A report commissioned from the Digital Working Group by the Westminster Government into the future of digital radio is – this week – calling for a date to be set to switch off of the analogue radio signal, leaving radio transmission to be provided by the digital radio network (DAB). This will leave most of Scotland, outside the Central Belt, without a conventional radio service because there will never be DAB transmissions there. They cost more to provide than our small populations in the Highlands and Islands can return on the investment.

While it was formally declared some time ago that there would be a point where the analogue television signal would be switched off, the same has not been true for radio. There has been speculation that this might happen but there has been no formal declaration. This report’s recommendation looks as if the Westminster Government is about to perform a sleight of hand routine on a largely uninterested media and an uninformed public.

What is happening is that digital radio – DAB – has proved a turkey. Operating licenses are massively expensive. The quality shift is largely undetectable to most people. There has been a very poor take up in sales of DAB radios. Two major UK multiplex licence holders have closed in the past year.

However, so much has been invested in DAB, financially and in political credit, that this report’s anticipated recommendations will be designed to save the format by force – compelling people to DAB because nothing else will be available. The situation in Scotland will be much worse than that.

The problem here is that large swathes of the country (outside the Central Belt) will never get DAB transmission. The Highlands and Islands have large territories and small populations that cannot return on investment for potential multiplex licence owners. At the January conference this year of the Highlands and Islands Community Broadcasting Federation it was stated publicly by senior industry players that most of the Highlands would never get DAB – including Inverness.

It is in our company’s interests for the Westminster Government to go ahead with this ill-advised scheme – as it will drive Scotland even faster towards migrating to Internet radio , using the fabulously simple wifi Internet radio sets and tuning into services such as the one we are working towards providing.

However, shutting down the analogue signal will cause widespread hardship outside Scotland’s Central Belt as the loss of a conventional radio service will be total and final. Elderly people – of whom we have many, rely on radio to keep them company as well as keeping them informed. Although company’s like ours will, in any case, do what we can to recruit this audience to using the internet for information services and media access, many elderly people will never make the transition and will suffer significant social exclusion and alienation.

This issue drives home how much it is in Scotland’s interests to have broadcasting become a devolved matter. It is hard to justify why the rural areas of Scotland should pay so much in the loss of a vital service to save face in London over what was always a poorly thought out development. The Internet is clearly where we are moving fast for our information nd entertainment needs. The BBC’s introduction of its iPlayer indicates that they see this and are positioning themselves to lead the new media world. DAB is a dead end – but an expensive one. Scotland’s iconic hinterland cannot afford to have its analogue signal switched off.