BT's Bland pans Blair's TV plans

BT chairman Sir Christopher Bland has expressed serious doubts over Tony Blair's ability to deliver on a promise to switch off the analogue signal for television broadcasting before 2010.

At a conference to discuss the future of digital TV - made all the more high-profile by the recent demise of ITV Digital - Bland said the target date is unworkable.

He pointed at the collapse of the Carlton and Granada joint venture as illustrating the pitfalls that await future forays into digital television, according to a report in the Guardian.

Tony Blair has pledged to switch off the analogue signal by 2010 at the latest, and then sell off the spectrum, in a simlar auction to that seen for the mobile phone spectrum. The collapse of ITV Digital, which may have just days left to live, will have come as a particular blow to this plan as it provided a strong basis for future growth - providing digital terrestrial programming to around 1.25 million homes in the UK.

At the weekend BT was linked to a consortium of investors planning a bid for ITV Digital, but Bland's criticism would appear to be a strong denial of the incumbent telco's interest. However, it has long been suggested that Bland will look to steer BT towards some flavour of broadcasting in the future, given his past in television, as chairman of the BBC.

ITV Digital's small band of subscribers may lose their Sky TV channels as early as tonight if BSkyB doesn't receive guarantees from administrators that the company will survive, according to the Guardian.