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Ofcom's spectrum policy chief has argued against reserving spectrum for high definition services on digital terrestrial television.

Philip Rutnam, partner in charge of spectrum policy at the regulator, said that HDTV should be "delivered using the broadcasters' existing spectrum" because Ofcom considers it "in the best interests of viewers."

In a letter to The Guardian, Rutnam said that Ofcom is "keen to see that all public service broadcasters - not just the BBC - can offer HDTV to digital terrestrial television viewers. There are two ways of achieving this. These broadcasters could simply be granted some of the highly-valued radio spectrum that will be freed-up when we complete the switch to all-digital television in 2012. Alternatively, HDTV could be delivered using the broadcasters' existing spectrum.