Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has announced the formal go-ahead and timetable for the switch-over from analogue to digital television at the Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge.
In a speech to broadcasters, she said viewers on the English-Scottish borders will have their existing TV signals switched off in three years.The rest of the UK will follow, region by region, ending in 2012.
She said the government had taken the initiative to be "ahead of the curve" in introducing the technology, but added it was aware some people would need help.
Figures from media regulator Ofcom show that an estimated 63% of households in the UK already have digital television - up from 61.9% from the previous quarter.
The switch-over will enable the analogue spectrum to be sold off for other uses, as well as encouraging the public to take advantage of multi-channel television.
Switching off the existing analogue signal means every television and video recorder, in every room, must be connected to a digital receiver if it is to work.
Support for vulnerable households would be funded by the BBC through the licence fee, said Ms Jowell.
She said that the switch off of the analogue signal would allow everyone to access all the digital services through an aerial, where currently only 73% of households have access and only 80% can watch Five.
In March, two villages in Carmarthenshire - Ferryside and Llanstephan - became the first in the UK to switch off their analogue signal after voting for the switch following a pilot scheme.
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