A small corner of western Wales made British history last week when two villages on separate sides of the River Tywi became the first to receive digital-only television, Reuters reported.
About 450 households in the Welsh villages of Ferryside and Llanstephan in Carmarthenshire voted to switch to digital-only after taking part in a pilot program that started last November.
For the pilot program, villagers were given digital boxes and elderly residents were offered individual technical coaching.
After three months, households were asked if they wanted to keep the digital services or revert to analog. Ninety-eight percent voted to stay digital.
The old analog network will disappear across Wales by 2008, ahead of a planned UK changeover in 2012.
Stella Thomas, one of the project team members, said people in rural areas have been more open to change than some have given them credit for.
