A little over a year after missing the international deadline for all countries to migrate to digital broadcasting, it is only towns in SA's Square Kilometre Array (SKA) area that are making progress.
In 2006, SA, along with other countries, committed to the International Telecommunication Union's 17 June 2015 deadline to switch from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting.
After missing last June's deadline, the Department of Communications (DOC) decided to prioritise border-lying areas as the country switches to digital television. The SKA area in the Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, Free State and North West were prioritised for the digital migration process.
The South African government plans to provide free set-top boxes (STBs) to five million poor TV-owning households across the country.
However, legal wrangles, lack of funds for public awareness campaigns, registration uptake and the uncertainty over the technical specifications of STBs have slowed down the country's digital migration.
Since the start of the registration process of qualifying TV-owning households in October 2015, just over 25 000 qualifying households have registered to receive government-subsidised decoders, says DOC spokesperson Mish Molakeng.
According to Molakeng, direct to home (DTH) STBs have been installed in the "core towns" of the SKA area. "The installation is sitting at 98%."
He adds: "Of the total registered households, 60% are DTT and 40% DTH. However, installations at the core towns of the SKA area are mainly DTH because of the type of signal required in the area. Towns and areas outside the SKA are activated with DTT STBs."
The towns in the core areas of SKA are Williston, Vanwyksvlei, Brandvlei and Carnarvon.
Decoder specs
The unending legal battle over the technical specifications of STBs has also added to the delays of the country's digital migration process.
Etv and DOC minister Faith Muthambi are at loggerheads over her controversial Broadcasting Digital Migration amendment policy. In 2013, the African National Congress declared encrypted STBs would be used, but Muthambi amended the party's policy in favour unencrypted STBs.
Muthambi and pay-TV operator M-Net, a subsidiary of MultiChoice, both want unencrypted decoders.
Meanwhile, Etv wants encrypted STBs to be used for digital migration, a move that has been questioned and labelled as a future "business plan" for the broadcaster, which is speculated to want to move away from its free-to-air model.
After a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgement in favour of Etv, the issue of the technical specifications of government-subsidised STBs will be determined by the Constitutional Court.
The DOC previously stated it is confident it has a chance to get the SCA judgement overturned. "We believe we have a strong case and we have lodged the papers at the Constitutional Court," said Molakeng.
Production halt
Earlier this month, the Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (USAASA) instructed manufacturers to suspend the production of DTT decoders.
USAASA is the agency charged with the responsibility of managing the production and installation of STBs.
According to the agency, its decision to suspend production followed the SCA's judgement.
USAASA noted it has only suspended the production of DTT STBs, while DTH decoders are not affected and the production thereof continues. The agency previously stated as of 31 May, 20 306 DTH STBs were manufactured and verified, and 5 306 delivered to the South African Post Office.
According to the DOC, 730 000 DTT packages (inclusive of STBs, antennae and satellite dishes) have been produced by manufacturers, of which over 520 000 have been delivered to post office warehouses for distribution across the country and installations to qualifying TV-owning households.
Lacking funds
Meanwhile, earlier this week Marian Shinn, Democratic Alliance shadow telecommunications and postal services minister, listed various stumbling blocks in the progression of the digital migration project.
Shinn noted the funding and capability to do the job as initially envisaged are just not there. "National Treasury has approved only R2.39 billion of the R4.3 billion needed to pay for the decoders and their antennas or aerials. This budget has not been adjusted since 2014."
She added: "There is no money in the current medium-term economic framework for the dual-illumination phase that is critical to the successful transition from analogue to digital broadcasting."
Shinn has called for government's broadcast digital migration project to be stopped and reappraised to determine a new path.
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