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SABC wins tech battle

By Christelle du Toit, ITWeb senior journalist
Johannesburg, 09 Sept 2008

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has won the right to proceed with a R380 million contract with Sony SA.

The deal covers the provision of four outside broadcasting (OB) vans to broadcast the 2009 Confederation Cup and the 2010 Soccer World Cup in high-definition.

This follows a legal bid by Sony rival Digital Horizons, which felt Sony does not have the necessary black economic empowerment credentials to have landed the deal.

The SABC reports that the judge ruled that delaying the tender would have an adverse effect on the SABC's ability to broadcast Confederation Cup and 2010 matches in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The ruling found this would embarrass the company and affect international perceptions of the national broadcaster.

This cleared the way for Sony to go ahead with preparations for the four OB vans.

However, the court did find there had been irregularities in the adjudication of the tender, leaving a gap for Digital Horizons to file for a review process.

Sony SA has vigorously defended the contract, saying it is the best technology partner for the deal.

According to Andrew Fraser, senior manager for brand management at Sony SA, the last five large OB vans in SA were all supplied by Sony, the most recent being M-Net's first HD OB van.

Related stories:
Sony defends SABC deal
Digital migration to cost billions
Siemens stands by SABC contract

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