Minister of communications Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri yesterday expressed her "deep regret" for her decision not to consider digital migration as early as 1996, when SABC's satellite pay-TV Astrasat venture, based on analogue, was introduced.
The venture failed after two years, due to the wrong choice of technology.
Matsepe-Casaburri said the signs were there at the time that the world was moving into a new technology platform when Malaysian broadcasting experts advised her against analogue technology.
"They knew something we didn't," she said during her keynote speech at the digital broadcasting migration working group's handover of its digital migration report, in Pretoria, yesterday.
The minister said she opted for analogue technology as she thought it would be more affordable for South Africans, but says the decision was erroneous as two years later the world had moved to a digital platform in satellite broadcasting.
"Digital migration has been mooted as early as the late 1990s in SA. Our white paper on broadcasting policy of 1998 had already recognised the evolution of technologies in the information and communications technology sector."
The report handed over to Matsepe-Casaburri sets out the country's process of migrating from an analogue to a digital broadcasting platform.
"Digital broadcasting can deliver more benefits for the industry and the public, with reduced transmission costs in the long-term," said Matsepe-Casaburri.
"As government, we have an obligation to ensure services reach every citizen of this country at an even more affordable rate," she added.
The minister praised the work done by the digital migration working group, noting: "The report will act as a base for migrating our broadcasting systems from analogue to digital technologies."
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