The start of the trial period for the reception of the digital TV signal is experiencing some teething problems and is progressing slowly, says Aynon Doyle, MIH Group regulatory affairs manager.
The country is in the transition period of migrating from the 35-year-old analogue system to the new digital broadcasting system that is scheduled to be completed by 1 November 2011.
On 30 October, national signal distributor Sentech switched on the digital TV service and the trial period started on 1 November and will continue for another eight months. A total of 6 000 households, split evenly between those who will receive only the free-to-air services and those who will also receive the subscription services, will be in full swing at the beginning of next year.
Viewers will need a set-top box (STB), a device similar to an M-Net decoder that will decode the digital signal for viewing on a TV set. The Department of Communications says new TV sets will not be necessary to view the digital signal, but STBs will be required.
“Some of the teething problems are getting the STBs used in the pay services to receive the free-to-air signal, and sorting out interference issues in the Johannesburg and Pretoria areas,” Doyle says.
The DOC says the South African Bureau of Standards will finalise the STB specifications in the first quarter of 2009 and that a manufacturing strategy for the sector will be completed soon.
Doyle says local manufacturers developed the STBs currently being used. The units in the free-to-air trial are being supplied by RCNC and those in the subscription service trial have been made by Altech subsidiary UEC.
Communications regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), has allocated 18 channels for the trial, of which eight are for the pay service and the remainder for the free-to-air service.
Last week, ICASA concluded its hearings into the allocation of the number of channels for the new digital service and the interim allocation has been based on an extra digital channel for every one analogue channel that a broadcaster currently has.
“The commercial broadcasters are worried about this. With digital, a lot more channels can be used and there is no reason to place such a restriction,” Doyle says.
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