The SUCCESSFUL roll-out of the government’s Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) programme will be beneficial to both consumers and broadcasters. The success of BDM is dependent on the production of quality content, reliable signal distribution and the availability of affordable access equipment, such as digital television and set-top boxes (STBs).
Having missed the previous cut-off dates for digital migration as required by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), South Africa cannot afford to miss the fast-approaching revised cut-off date of June 2019.
The migration to a digital platform will not only free the frequency spectrum, which has become a scarce resource, for other wireless services, it will also result in an increased number of TV channels available for audiences.
More channels will lead to more competition in the broadcasting market and hopefully the production of creative and quality content that will captivate and stimulate South Africans.
The mass roll-out of DTT (digital terrestrial television) is one way to ensure that South Africans have access to a variety of television and radio services, and move towards the modern information society and bridge the digital divide.
The ITU says: “Making radio and television services widely available is important for enhancing national identity, providing an outlet for domestic media content and informing the public about important news.
"Radio and television programmes are a principal source of news and information for illiterate segments of the population.”
Moving from analogue to DTT comes with high costs for the broadcaster; however, these are far outweighed by the financial benefits digital broadcasting will deliver for all players.
DTT will broaden opportunities for new terrestrial broadcasters to enter the market, enabling competition in the pay TV market. Convergence in information and communication technology (ICT) combined with the decreasing price of data has enabled the advent of over-the-top (OTT) offerings (such as Showmax and Netflix) through the internet.
Throughout the world, broadcasting as we know it is changing. Consumers are now able to connect to the internet and watch programmes which they traditionally would have reached through a linear broadcaster.
Traditional broadcasters are now under increasing pressure to keep up with these disruptive technologies. Through DTT, traditional broadcasters will have the technological capability to compete with OTT offerings.
Implementing a project of this magnitude requires all the relevant stakeholders to work together. The Department of Communications has established a war room for the facilitation of the mass roll-out of DTT. This war room brings together Sentech (signal distributor), the SA Post Office (registration and distribution of subsidised STBs), Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa and the SABC, co-ordinated by the Department of Communications. All these agencies have an important role to play.
In addition, the department has forged partnerships with the private sector, which include broadcasters and mobile network operators, to fast-track the implementation of this programme.
There are an estimated 13 million television-owning households in South Africa.
There are 7.1million households which earn less than R3200, also referred to as indigent households. Of these 7.1million households, 5million households have TV sets.
Those that do not own TV sets either could not afford to buy or they could afford to buy but live in areas where a television signal is not available.
The existing government DTT policy makes provision for the subsidisation of the 5million indigent TV-owning households by providing free STBs. It is evident that the remainder of the indigent households need to be catered for in the government programme.
It is important to note that digital migration will not only affect the subsidised households, it will affect all TV- owning households.
This means that the unsubsidised households have to acquire digital TV equipment before the cut-off date.
Because of the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act of 2007 relating to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in the Northern Cape, the first phase of the project was implemented in this province.
The installation of STBs for the subsidised market has been completed in the Northern Cape. The next phase of the project is to address the cross-border interference mitigation by deploying STBs and clearing analogue transmissions along the borders.
For this reason, Free State and North West are the focus for the next four months. The cut-off date for registration for indigent houses has been set for March 31.
Distribution and installation of DTT equipment in these two provinces will be completed by the end of June. Upon completion, the project will then move to inland provinces.
We call on all South Africans to work with us in ensuring that the digital migration project becomes a success. Critical to the success of the project is the participation of all South Africans. Let's all go digital! @GODIGITALDOC #GoDigitalZA
* Ngubane is the Minister of Communications and an NEC member of the ANC. She writes in her personal capacity.
@mmKubayiNgubane