Unless the French (and others) are also going to stop broadcasting on long wave, I am sure the BBC could afford a new transmitter (Long long-wave goodbye for radio favourites, 10 October) if they were not hell-bent on pushing digital radio. Beyond those 90,000 isolated homes where FM does not penetrate, there are large areas of upland and coastal Britain where the 198kHz signal provides a vital service – including broadcasting the shipping and general weather forecasts.
Furthermore, given the rate at which digital radios get through batteries, some of us prefer to listen to Test Match Special on long wave even though all the BBC cricket trailers ignore this frequency. This is part of a wider plan to get us to go digital regardless of the environmental impact so that the government can sell off the existing FM spectrum.
David Nowell
New Barnet, Hertfordshire
One has to wonder why the UK faces equipment shortages for long-wave broadcasting problems. Other European countries have many more LW transmitters, and high-power ones too, and France in particular would not dream of giving up such a useful long-range shop window for its culture. Furthermore, many UK expats and tourists in Europe can keep in touch with home using Droitwich on 198kHz. Can't transistors do the job of the obsolete valves? It seems to work on medium wave.
Richard Gosnell
Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire