Some 36 local companies have responded to the Department of Communications' (DOC's) request for information to manufacture subsidised set-top boxes (STBs), as SA gets ready to turn on digital television.
About 10 million households will need decoders to convert the new signal so it can still be viewed on analogue televisions. Government has set aside R2.45 billion to subsidise as much as 70% of the cost for about five million poor households.
In April, the DOC held a compulsory briefing on STB production, which about 95 people attended. SA is set to turn on digital signal in September.
The meeting followed the DOC's request for information tender, which aimed to understand the local sector and gather information on companies' ability to manufacture boxes.
The department has now published a list of companies that met its requirements, says spokesman Siya Qoza. He points out it is not a shortlist, but did not indicate when the department would move to the next stage.
Among the firms listed are DiViTech, Tellumat, Seemahale Telecoms, Altech UEC and Pace. Other entities included among the bidders are Jomo Sono Investments, QEC, Microtronix and Hopelafleur Networks.
Earlier this year, the DOC awarded a long-awaited tender to Hopelafleur Networks, for R7.9 million, to audit spectrum use in SA, which raised concerns, as owner Julia Hope has ties to Vodacom and Telkom.
Communications minister Dina Pule has said migration is also expected to facilitate the entry of about 1 000 small and medium companies into the electronics manufacturing sector. About 23 500 jobs should be created in the STB supply chain.
Pule will launch the South African Bureau of Standards STB standard this morning at the inaugural ICT Indaba, in Cape Town.
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