BBC Broadcast will hand management of the DTT Engineering Channel over to a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Digital Television Group, DTG Testing Ltd, on May 5th.

The 50 kbps channel, located on multiplex 1, is used to deliver software updates to DTT boxes. DTG has also indicated that a planned rollout of an update to the MHEG system used on DTT, to MHEG-5 v1.06, is likely "in the future."

David Bradshaw, Technical Manager at DTG Testing Ltd, said: "The ability to update the software resident in receivers is an essential step to achieving the interoperability between broadcast applications and the receivers they run on that we seek. We are delighted to be able to extend the services we provide to the manufacturing community in pursuit of improved viewer experience."

The changes mean that DTG will become the point of contact for manufacturers who wish to release updates to their set-top-boxes over the air. DTG will also provide validation checks on the updates before they air, and will schedule playout. BBC Broadcast will still provide the playout facilities.

The DTG also indicates it is working with manufacturers to make details of upcoming downloads more public, although it adds: "...this has not been resolved." Many manufacturers already release details about upcoming updates to their products on Digital Spy's Digital Terrestrial and Digital Terrestrial - Technical forums.