Its first report on the issue, called 'Driving Digital Switchover', details 23 recommendations to achieve switchover from analogue to digital television, including slapping the new fees on both broadcasters as an incentive for them to help speed up the process. Currently ITV pays £225m and Five pays £25m to broadcast on analogue.
"Broadcasters will need to have clear and unambiguous incentives to achieve switchover. Ofcom will consider imposing spectrum pricing to sharpen incentives to promote switchover," the report says.
The report adds that this could, for the first time, apply to all broadcasters, including the BBC, Channel 4 and Welsh S4C, as early as 2006.
Other recommendations include adding a specific obligation on the BBC to promote digital television as part of the review of its Royal Charter as well as a greater use of free-to-view digital satellite.
The report has now been submitted to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport secretary Tessa Jowell, who wants to see analogue switch-off achieved by 2010.
Ofcom is also asking the DCMS to produce a clearer timetable for switchover, which the regulator wants to be phased in region by region.
The report comes as the BBC this week announced details of its spring marketing push to encourage take-up of its digital free-to-air service Freeview.
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