The public launch of digital terrestrial television (DTT) is no longer going to happen in April, as earlier indicated by the Department of Communications (DOC).
This is due to the regulations and set-top box (STB) strategy still requiring finalisation, according to communications minister Dina Pule, who spoke at a briefing in Pretoria this morning.
"The indication is that we can only launch in the third quarter of the year, in 2012."
The minister also added that the STB manufacturing strategy for digital television has been finalised and will be presented to Cabinet next month.
The manufacturing strategy has been long-awaited by local manufacturers, who expressed concerns around the original April deadline being met for digital migration, since it would take some months to manufacture the required number of STBs.
March regulations
The minister said the migration is one of the department's key priorities and the regulations for DTT will be published by March.
The finalisation of national DTT standards is at an advanced stage and would be gazetted in February, said Pule. She added that the department has also finalised the amendments to the 2008 Broadcasting Digital Migration Policy and these will be gazetted next month.
"The DTT policy will fast-track the finalisation of the DTT Regulations by ICASA [the Independent Communications Authority of SA]."
The scheme for STB ownership support in the roll-out framework has also been finalised and will be presented to Cabinet next month.
"With regards to signal distribution, we are happy to announce that Sentech is making significant progress in the roll-out of DVB-T2 transmitters. We anticipate that by March 2012 the digital signal will cover more than 60% of the population," said Pule.
ICASA will soon license new players for DTT, according to Pule. "I commit to action our priorities with speed. Team DOC has built up considerable momentum."
To read the full statement by minister of communications Dina Pule, please click here.
Share