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Digital dividend 'should go to operators'

Nicola Mawson
By Nicola Mawson, Contributor.
Johannesburg, 24 Apr 2014
Moving to digital television will free up space in the 700MHz and 800MHz frequency ranges.
Moving to digital television will free up space in the 700MHz and 800MHz frequency ranges.

SA's second digital dividend, which will be freed up when the country finally moves off analogue television broadcasting, would be best used by the cellular operators, as this would most benefit the country.

This finding is contained in a report compiled for the Department of Communications by Deloitte, on the second digital dividend. SA is slowly migrating off analogue television to digital, although the move has been held up several times and progress is currently stalled.

Once the move is finally made, much-needed spectrum in the 700MHz and 800MHz ranges will be freed up. Mobile operators want to gain access to this frequency, because it is ideal for rolling out long-term evolution in rural areas.

However, broadcasters also want space in this range to offer additional television services. Out of the 460 frequency assignments for digital television, 30.7% are located within the first digital dividend (800MHz band) and 8.9% located within the second digital dividend band (700MHz band), explains Deloitte.

Deloitte notes the current plan has space for seven multiplexes, with the potential to add an additional two, which will provide broadcasters with sufficient space for their services, given the current economic viability of the sector, and the number of players it can handle.

Best benefit

The multiplexes open up the potential of 140 standard definition (SD) channels, or 42 high-definition (HD) channels. Currently, there are about 11 million homes in SA with television sets, of which about a quarter have satellite subscriptions - a sector dominated by DStv.

In a decade, the maximum number of sustainable television channels will be between 129 HD channels and 222 SD channels, notes Deloitte. "Using only satellite and terrestrial platforms for the broadcast of television channels, there would be more than sufficient spectrum available for all sustainable DTT channel requirements, even without a need to use the second digital dividend for broadcasting for at least the next 10-year period."

Deloitte recommends that space in 700MHz be allocated to mobile operators, which will be able to use it to roll out better quality of service at slightly less cost than in 800MHz, through the creation of a contiguous band within the 800MHz first digital dividend.

The report also recommends that mobile operators be licensed to access space in 800MHz as soon as this becomes available. It adds that giving 700MHz to broadcasters will have minimal benefits, while cellphone operators will enable additional socio-economic benefits.

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