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Digital migration campaign reaches Ladybrand

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 27 Mar 2017
The ConCourt will decide on the technical specifications for digital TV decoders.
The ConCourt will decide on the technical specifications for digital TV decoders.

Although the fate of government-subsidised set-top boxes (STBs) remains unclear, the Department of Communications (DOC) is continuing to drive public awareness campaigns around the country's digital migration project.

Last week, the DOC's broadcasting digital migration public awareness campaign reached Ladybrand in the Free State, making it one of the many planned visits to inform community members about migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT).

The campaigns also see department officials making door-to-door visits, while enlisting provincial government departments to encourage qualifying residents to register.

Communications minister Faith Muthambi, accompanied by premier Ace Magashule, led the public awareness campaign to inform community members of Ladybrand about digital migration.

Muthambi said: "It is encouraging to see the kind of support this project is receiving from the premier and his provincial Cabinet. This province has been at the forefront of driving public awareness around digital migration."

The public awareness campaign in Ladybrand comes as the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) is still to decide on the matter regarding the technical specifications of government-subsidised STBs.

The ConCourt decision will mark a decisive step in the ongoing legal showdown about the amendment to the Broadcasting Digital Migration Policy, which has been declared unlawful and invalid.

Muthambi adopted the amendment that calls for the use of unencrypted STBs, which the DOC says is in line with its mandate to unconditionally provide free access to content for citizens in all corners of SA.

However, Etv and other stakeholders have challenged this amendment, saying they want digital migration decoders to be encrypted. The free-to-air broadcaster's call for encrypted STBs has been labelled as a future "business plan" for the broadcaster, which is speculated to want to move away from its free-to-air model.

After missing the 2015 digital migration deadline, government is in a rush to ensure all households migrate.

Government plans to subsidise five million indigent TV-owning households across the country with free STBs.

The DOC is working together with the SA Post Office to reach communities and distribute the subsidised television decoders to qualifying households.

To qualify for the government-subsidised decoders, television viewing households must be earning less than R3 200 per month, says the department.

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