The authorities’ decision for free to air channels to go digital by the end of next year, two years before an EU directive kicks in, is good news for customers and should be complemented by regulation to dismantle the old eyesore aerials that dot our skyline.

The capital outlay to switch over to digital is expected to be in the region of e800,000 and should result in Maltese customers getting better reception, more channels, improved picture quality and the ability to press the hallowed “red button” for interactive services.

With Italy doing the same within the same time frame, Maltese customers will get a better service, especially with the free channels from Italy also being converted to digital format.

It does not necessarily follow that one has to buy a new TV set to get the new service. People with older television sets simply need to buy a cheap “digibox” that can read the digital signals and then convert them to the format of older televisions. Those with new sets have nothing to worry about as the ones on the market now are all “ready to go” and do not need additional equipment.

The government says that there are some 17 per cent of Maltese households which are not subscribed to packages offered by cable and digital terrestrial operators. This technically means that 83 per cent of households do not need an aerial, yet they are still numerous. Many have in fact chosen not to remove their aerials even though they do not need them anymore.

By December 2010, the need for an aerial will be totally superfluous, simply because there will be nothing to catch on them, except perhaps, some North African stations. The digital system works by connecting the “digibox” to the infrastructure by means of a wire, so there should literally be no valid reason whatsoever for having a coat-hanger type aerial stuck to the highest point of people’s roofs.

This means that these aerials will become obsolete, and the eyesore should be removed. The government, however, has played down the idea of forcing people to remove these aerials, with IT Minister Austin Gatt saying that he did not know when Malta would get to the point where legislation would be needed to make aerials illegal.

Well, if we put things into context, the government scoured the walls of places such as Mdina and Valletta to get rid of old wiring that no longer needed to be there. Some of these wires were defunct cable and wireless, Rediffusion and even power cables. The two cities certainly look a lot smarter for it and the job did not actually take that long.

So the answer to Dr Gatt in this case must be, get your act together and legislate to make the removal of aerials and the switchover to digital coincide. Will we really have to wait 40 years to get these unsightly bits of metal removed? If these aerials are not needed, it is simple, people have absolutely no reason whatsoever for them and should have them removed.

The removal of aerials is not rocket science; anyone with a pair of hands can do it. The legislation to remove them should come into force at the same time of going digital. A month’s grace should be given and a hotline could be set up for people who, perhaps, are not able bodied and need assistance in removing them.

We invite readers, and indeed the minister, to look out of their windows and wonder how much better Malta would look without the proliferation of “coat hangers”.