Government is to look at paying out more than $800,000 to buy out digital TV firm WOW’s wavelengths, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

Telecoms watchdog the Regulatory Authority has recommended that the Department of Telecommunications buy back the firm’s its 700MHz spectrum and sell it off to mobile providers.

It is intended to move WOW to 500MHz when its current licence expires in October.

The cash is to compensate the TV company for work needed to migrate its services to the new wavelength.

Regulatory Authority CEO Philip Micallef said: “Spectrum is a very scarce resource and is a nation’s asset, just like land is.

“700MHz is a very valuable spectrum frequency and this can be confirmed by the price carriers in other jurisdictions have paid for the spectrum.

“Although $800,000 will be paid out, yet the revenue for the next 20 years from the use of this spectrum will be way much higher.

“So the $800,000 can be seen as an investment to secure a yearly revenue stream for the next 20 years.”

Mr Micallef explained that many countries had removed broadcasting from the 700MHz frequency and the International Telecommunications Union had directed countries to use it for mobile services.

He said: “The USA and other North American countries have done so and Bermuda is migrating WOW from this 700MHz to a lower frequency with no inconvenience whatsoever for the customers of WOW.”

Mr Micallef added that WOW’s existing wavelength would be sold off to mobile carriers, who will pay a yearly fee for the spectrum they obtain.

He said: “A separate consultation on this subject on how the 700MHz taken back from WOW is going to be given to the mobile carriers will be issued in April.”

An 18-page consultation document on the change, including 14 questions, was issued at the end of January, with responses due by February 21.

WOW has already agreed to give up the spectrum, which covers Channels 52-69, in return for Channels 21-37 (512-608MHz) and compensation for the change.

The bulk of the $803,000 payment is to cover the purchase and installation of transmitters and a radio frequency combining and switching system, as well as its installation and commissioning.