7 October 2002

Digital Television and eGovernment: Why The Big Idea Isn't Working

By Kimberley Pledger

In 1997, the Government set out its agenda for eGovernment: to deliver universal Internet access by 2005 and to create a culture of open-government through the electronic delivery of public information and services. Five years on, and the growth of mobile, wireless and digital television communication systems has fragmented the market, widened the digital divide and left local authorities wondering how best to deploy their resources in order to meet these targets. Whilst universal internet access via a PC remains the ideal, digital television is increasingly being considered as an effective solution to the challenges of delivering content to the socio-demographic groups least likely to have computer access. There is certainly future potential, but does digital television today really have a part to play in turning the eGovernment vision into a reality by 2005?

Is digital television socially inclusive?

99% of the British population pays a licence fee to watch five analogue channels. Only 37% is currently willing to pay a monthly subscription fee on top of the licence fee for the privilege of watching multi-channel digital television. A considerable proportion of these subscribers is demographically grouped as C2 and DE, the same groups identified as being least likely to have access to the Internet at home or work and most likely to require regular access to council services.

The bulk of the Sky customer base comprises less affluent C2DEs yet it has been the dominant player in the UK digital television market since its inception and is the only platform available nationwide. The cable companies, NTL and Telewest, have been unable to compete effectively with Sky because the cost of laying down a nationwide cable infrastructure has proved uneconomic. Although the demographic profile of the cable companies is slightly higher than that of Sky, the patchwork of cable accessibility nationwide has brought into focus another aspect of the digital divide, namely that the haves and have-nots are split not just between the rich and poor, but between urban and rural dwellers too.

At present there is no digital terrestrial transmission (DTT) platform due to the recent collapse of ITV Digital. ITV Digital failed in part because it attempted to compete directly with Sky for the same customers instead of defining its own market and tailoring its content accordingly. It is likely that the programming of the soon to be launched Freeview service will appeal to as diverse an audience as possible. The Government hopes that this broad appeal will drive the take-up of digital television and broaden the demographic profile of digital television consumers. Whether it is willing to invest in upgrading the terrestrial transmitters so that the service can achieve 100% UK coverage is another matter.

The current demographic profile of digital television viewers suggests it might be a suitable medium for eGovernment, but this is belied by the patchy coverage and lack of consumer choice in the market. For digital television to be truly socially inclusive it must be available nationwide and not in the hands of a single dominant provider. Even if it were cheaply and widely available, is it really an appropriate medium for eGovernment?

Is digital television the right medium for eGovernment?

There are two types of interactivity available on digital television. The first allows viewers to interact with broadcasting content. The second utilises the television screen as a monitor and usually a decoder integrated into the digital television set-top box to browse HTML content distributed outside the broadcast stream via a telephone line. This Internet-on-TV interactivity is the type proposed as a tool in eGovernment yet there are significant drawbacks to this type of interactivity.

As the content is not related to the broadcast stream, the user will need to be prompted through marketing to dial up and connect to the interactive TV (iTV) portal. Once logged on, the experience is clunky and painfully slow. The user is likely to become frustrated with the lack of instant response and draw unfavourable comparisons with the Internet via PC. These technical difficulties need to be overcome to make the iTV portal a user-friendly reliable experience. The other factor in the success, or failure, of the iTV portal is its content. Every digital television platform has some form of iTV portal mostly containing content from high street and dotcom retailers, betting companies and local and central government. In spite of this content mix, usage of these iTV portals remains disappointing. The reason for this has to lie with the limitations of the technology. The fact that these iTV portals do not capitalise on those qualities intrinsic to broadcast television that make it so compelling to watch - moving images and sound - means they lack the power of broadcast interactivity.

The failure of these interactive portals is reason enough for local authorities to think twice before investing resources into digital television at this time. Admittedly, the results of some of the Pathfinder and ISB projects have yet to be seen and they may show that this form of digital television interactivity can serve a purpose. Nevertheless, the digital television landscape in Britain overall needs to change significantly for eGovernment via iTV portals to be a success nationwide.

Higher penetration of digital television is needed so the benefits of digital television must be promoted to encourage higher take-up. Once the nation is used to digital television as the norm it will be more inclined to trust it as a medium for its transactions. For it to become a trusted medium the distribution technology needs to be greatly improved to ensure a fast, smooth service. This means improving the data cable infrastructure across the country to ensure parity of provision. The iTV browsers will also need to be upgraded to make them more tolerant of the latest versions of Internet software. Once this groundwork is in place, local authorities, and other content providers, will be better able to deliver a successful service valued by its users.

It may be several years before this digital vision is a reality. In the meantime, there may be a stronger case for exploring how broadcast related interactivity could be used to advance lifelong learning than investing further in iTV portals as a tool for eGovernment.

Kimberley Pledger has over two year's experience of the digital television sector gained through her work at ITV Digital and dktv. She has managed the development and delivery of interactive television portals on behalf of local authorities and public sector bodies across the country. Earlier in the year, she also participated in the ODPM Roundtable discussions on iTV and eGovernment. Kimberley can be comtacted via email at kpledger@freenetname.co.uk