New HD Channels & Local TV coming to Freeview

Following recent announcements from the BBC and news channel Al Jazeera revealing the forthcoming launch of HD channels on Freeview, and after recent tests in the London area, Freeview has confirmed that further reception information will become available by mid-November, together with coverage predictions for local TV services in the UK.
Multiplex operator Arqiva have recently indicated that 50% of the UK population will be covered by an extra multiplex of Freeview HD channels by Christmas, the first local TV service is expected to go live at the end of November in the Grimsby area via a new local TV multiplex operated by Comux. Freeview has confirmed that it is “working on an updated coverage checker (available in mid-November) to include information on new services and local TV services.”

BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC News and Al Jazeera English are all confirmed as launching in HD on Freeview. All viewers with Freeview HD will get BBC Three and CBBC in high definition on channels 73 and 105, with the remaining services launching on the limited coverage extra multiplex. Coverage of the extra multiplex will be increased during the first six months of 2014, serving 70% of the UK population by the summer of 2014.
There are currently proposals to switch the Freeview service to the DVB-T2 transmission standard from 2018.