The Radio Teleswitch Service currently broadcast on the 198kHz Radio 4 Long Wave frequency from Droitwich, Westerglen and Burghead is being turned off next year.
Radio Teleswitch meters will no longer operate correctly. If you have one of these, you will either have been notified by your supplier, or you can contact them to arrange a replacement with a smart meter.
However, with most of the rest of the world adopting a form of Teleswitch and it being the most common form of load switching in most of Europe, it seems like a daft idea to me.
I can even receive the German 'Telecontrol' signals from DCF39 on 139kHz here in the west of Wales....and decode and monitor the signals!
The grey area at the top shows the decoded FSK data - ten second time checks and synchronisation signals, and one line of 'payload' containing meter switching signals.
So the system has the coverage and the range. The BBC system however has to use a modulation system based on Manchester code and phase changes of the carrier wave so as not to be audible on the AM broadcast signal.
No reason why the system needs to be switched off other than pure economics. It costs a lot of money to run the LW transmitters!! And the two valves in the output stage of the transmitter have a working life of between 1 and 3 years, and there are only ten spares left in the world.
Currently, the number of RTS meters in the UK is around 1.6 million.