Thousands could be paid back for their television license after losing their signal in the broadcaster’s recent fire in Bilsdale. This severe August 10 fire caused significant damage to sensitive equipment, leaving some in the northeast without access to popular services such as the BBC for almost a month. Due to problems with the mast repair, thousands still have no signal and these users could get some money back.
Refunds are offered to anyone who has not been able to watch TV through their antenna and cannot access it through a satellite dish or through online services such as the BBC’s iPlayer.
A TV Licensing spokesperson confirmed the payments, saying, “Customers in the affected area who have not received television broadcasts for more than a month and cannot watch BBC programming through BBC iPlayer and on cable and satellite platforms are eligible for a refund or offered a free extension of their TV license to cover the affected months.
“We are continuing to work with our supplier Arqiva to ensure that services are resumed in the affected area as soon as possible.”
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However, this does not cause delays in plans to restore the signal from a temporary transmitter. The recent setbacks have been caused by a legal catch, Arqiva – the the Bilsdale Website – has confirmed.
Freeview, which is used by millions to access TV channels, recently updated its blog with more news on the issues. In its latest post, the company said, “The only way to truly replicate Bilsdale’s service is to build something similar near the original location, which was difficult given the nature of the incident. A temporary transmitter in the same location should “restore TV coverage to the vast majority of households that normally receive signals directly from Bilsdale.”
“The station’s operating company, Arqiva, plans to set up a temporary station in Bilsdale, which is an area of particular scientific interest, which means it will need to get approval.”
It was hoped that full service would be back by August 28th, but that deadline has now passed and things are still not fully resolved.
“This date has now been postponed as the legal process to secure access to the website is taking longer than Arqiva originally expected. Arqiva has informed the court that this is a serious and urgent situation. In the meantime, Arqiva is trying to reach an agreement with the landowners to expedite the process, “added Freeview
