The cost of restoring Freeview and other communications services in parts of North East England and North Yorkshire has been confirmed by the company responsible for the mast.
- Bilsdale transmitter mast caught fire in August 2021
- Normal TV reception didn’t resume for nearly two years
- Mast owner Arqiva reaches settlement with most customers
The full financial cost of the fire that caused thousands of TV viewers to lose their signal is now confirmed.
Three years after the fire which destroyed the original Bilsdale transmitter mast in North Yorkshire, mast owner Arqiva, revealed the total cost of restoring services and supporting viewers totalled £54.9 million.
The new 300 metre replacement mast in the North York Moors had to pass planning hurdles and progress was slowed down by poor weather.
The bill has left company with a nearly £14 million shortfall versus insurance payments. Insurers capped payments at £41m in August 2023. Arqiva already confirmed last year that wouldn’t be enough to cover the full costs. Poor weather in December delayed the final restoration of radio services to early 2024.
According to the company’s latest financial filing, Arqiva Group incurred total rectification costs of £54.9m, including £37.1m in capital expenditure for the rebuild of the mast and a further £17.8m of exceptional operating expenses in respect of community support activities and restoration costs.
Community support costs included the bill for media streaming devices for affected residents. However, around 500 remaining devices were then donated to the British Heart Foundation for re-use. Ofcom had previously criticised Arqiva for poor take-up and awareness of the official viewer support scheme.
Mast fire exposed lack of alternative to Freeview
The fire at the mast exposed shortcomings in disaster recovery plans, leading to Ofcom ordering improvements. It also confirmed that in many areas, viewers currently don’t have a viable alternative way of watching TV, with areas inside Bilsdale’s coverage area without full fibre broadband, 5G mobile coverage or not permitted to install a satellite dish.
Bilsdale mast’s coverage area includes both the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors, as well as major urban areas in Teesside and beyond.
Freeview was restored from the mast last year, but radio services were not fully restored until this year. The Bilsdale mast is also used for other forms of communication. All major mobile networks use the site to provide 4G coverage to the western half of the North York Moors.
Arqiva pays out to affected customers
Arqiva also confirmed that it had settled affairs with most of its affected customers, applying service credits to compensate for loss of service. It also revealed that trade payables had increased in the year due to the finalisation of a settlement agreement with several impacted
customers totalling £20.4m, paid in July.
Insurers concluded their investigation into the fire last year, but the precise cause of their findings have not been publicly shared.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: Google Street View