The news means that almost 1m former subscribers to the ITV Digital service will not now have to worry about a knock at the door. Instead, they will be able to continue to use their boxes to watch the Freeview replacement digital terrestrial service launched by the BBC.
The cost of the boxes is now to be covered by ITV Digital's former owners Carlton Communications and Granada. ITV Digital went under in May 2002 with losses estimated at £1.24bn. An asset sale in October raised only £27.3m.
The boxes had originally been given to subscribers who bought a year's subscription in advance or paid monthly. Since the broadcaster's closure, few of the boxes have found their way back to the liquidator. However, there is little incentive to return the boxes.
It is understood that anyone who has paid the £39.99 will now be refunded. The move by the ITV companies is partly viewed as one to avoid any bad publicity ahead of their £2.6bn merger, announced in October.
Carlton and Granada also want to be seen to support digital television in the UK, which includes a number of ITV channels including ITV2.
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