Within the next few years, Interior residents should be able to switch on their TVs and view limited digital programming without cable or satellite fees.

That’s the expectation of a local citizens’ group that has been lobbying for such an option for the past five years as the availability of free over-the-air broadcasting comes to an end with a nationwide digital TV rollout beginning next August.

Confirmation comes in the form of a CRTC decision approving Shaw Communications’ purchase of Canwest TV assets.

As part of the ruling, Shaw must complete the transition to digital broadcasting in centres outside major markets, such as Kamloops, within five years.

To do that, Shaw proposes spending $26 million on upgraded transmitters as part of its tangible public benefits package. That would facilitate a technology called multiplexing, which combines data streams into one signal over a shared medium.

Pam Astbury, a member of the local group Save Our CBC Kamloops, appeared before the CRTC recently to press the case for multiplexing. The system would allow local viewers to obtain a limited range of channels, perhaps including CBC-TV.

“It says they understand and appreciate the practical benefit of multiplexing as a way of affecting media concentration when Shaw takes over Canwest,” Astbury said of Friday’s CRTC decision. “Multiplexing would affect community stations and diversify what we have here.”

When the transition to digital TV takes place next year, Shaw will deliver signals in 32 cities across Canada described as mandatory markets. In B.C. that includes only Vancouver and Victoria.

“The news here for Kamloops and all of Interior B.C., frankly, is that there’s not going to be any free TV after the transition,” said Karen Wirsig of the Canadian Media Guild.

With Shaw’s benefits package, there now exists a pool of resources designated for a new option with more channels than the two currently available over the air.

Astbury, a big believer in quality as opposed to quantity in TV, sees a new horizon of possibilities.

“We want Kamloops to be the first,” she said. “We want Kamloops to pave the way for other communities because we believe it’s much better than single-signal conversion.”

She hopes CFJC-TV sees the merit in adapting its own transmitter as part of the public benefits package. Rick Arnish, general manager of CFJC-TV and head of Pattison Broadcasting, could not be reached for comment Monday.