Communications minister Eamon Ryan has warned RTÉ and the One Vision TV consortium that they must reach agreement on digital TV content "in a matter of months" or else the country will miss the new 1 January 2012 deadline for the compulsory switchover to digital TV across Europe.

Failure to make the deadline would mean that thousands of households along the east coast and in the border counties which rely on signals for BBC, ITV and Channel 4 from aerials in Wales and Northern Ireland will lose coverage on 1 January 2012 when the analogue system is shutdown across Europe.

The state broadcaster is providing the transmission network for digital TV and has been recently locked in negotiations with One Vision, composed of TV3, Eircom, Setanta and UK company Arqiva. It is understood that RTÉ, which is already facing a €67m deficit this year, is seeking a cash guarantee from One Vision to underpin the project which Montrose says will cost it €100m.

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, which oversees the roll out of a commercial, has written to the consortium urging it to reach agreement.

The roll-out has already suffered a setback when the Boxer TV consortium pulled out early last year.

Under Ireland's digital TV roll-out, RTÉ will have one free-to-air multiplex which will carry RTÉ, TV3, TG4 and some new TV channels.

In tandem, One Vision has promised that on the other commercial multiplexes it will provide a pay-per-view basic pack carrying all the British channels for €9.99 per month, Sky sports for €24.99 a month and Sky movies for €14.99 a month. All households will also have to have digital TVs and will have to purchase a set top box in order to receive the digital signal.