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Digital set top box delivery will take up to two years

South Africa’s project to switch to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) will only be completed in two years according to communications minister Faith Muthambi. She outlined timelines of the project during her budget speech before the National Assembly this afternoon.

“We are mindful of the fact that the country will not meet the 17th June 2015 analogue switch off date as set by the International Telecommunications Union,”said Muthambi.

“We anticipate to expedite the rollout of set top boxes to be completed in the coming 18 to 24 months so that we can switch off analogue signal and begin to realise the benefits of digital TV and to allow the rollout of digital broadband services.”

It is apparent that a specific date for migration to digital signal is yet to be determined. A date will eventually be determined after consultation between the department of communications (DOC) and cabinet according to the Minister.

Cabinet’s approval of the final amendments to the Broadcasting Digital Migration Policy in March this year was mentioned. That two month old approval also included commitment by the government to provide free set top boxes (STBs) to five million poor South African households that own television sets recounted Muthambi.

The minister outlined hurdles in the process to migrate to DTT in her speech. Among them is the signing of bilateral engagements with six neighbouring countries, a process that she said is already underway. The agreements are aimed at minimising cross border frequency spectrum interference in communities that are situated close to the borders.

Muthambi described the broadcasting digital migration programme as a flagship project of her department. She says that the migration process will proceed during the second quarter of the 2015 financial year.

Another hurdle is helping the broadcasting sector to prepare for DTT and this, the minister said, will be finalised during the 2015 financial year following finalisation of the Audiovisual Content Development Strategy.

The minister said that R22m has been set aside for a “public awareness campaign” about digital television that would run for the next four weeks. An unconfirmed sum will also be set aside for “content generation hubs in rural provinces”, designed to increase the amount of local media media in more remote provinces.

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