The Brazilian government is hitting back against critics of its ISDB-T digital television standard, as it seeks to woo key industry players to persuade them to choose its standard over the European version.
Several diplomats and industry players are currently in the country to meet with the Department of Communications (DOC), industry, and the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA).
Earlier this year, the DOC controversially decided to review its decision to migrate to digital TV using the European DVB-T standard, opting to investigate the Brazilian upgrade of the Japanese standard.
Industry was outraged by government's decision to review its previously adopted choice, as about R700 million has been spent on gearing up for switchover. This week, Altech threatened legal action to recoup these investments if government changes its mind.
Local industry commentators say the Brazilian standard is not compatible with SA's frequency, which is on an 8Mhz band compared with Brazil's 6Mhz band. As a result, switching standards now would result in existing investments being scrapped, and more money would have to be spent.
However, the Brazilian government is aggressively pursuing the South African market, and wants the entire Southern African Development Community to choose its standard to bolster economies of scale and open up new markets for its products.
Lies told
Brazilian Ministry of Communications diplomat Flavio Lenz Cesar says he cannot understand why broadcasters in SA are against changing standards.
During the conference, Lenz handed out a seven-page document that refutes concerns raised by the Southern African Digital Broadcasting Association (Sadiba) over why it would be problematic to implement ISDB-T in SA.
In addition, argues Lenz, the ISDB-T standard will offer more economies of scale, because many South American countries are adopting it. He argues that DVB-T set-top boxes will not become any cheaper, and decoders for the DVB-T2 upgrade are very expensive.
He says these boxes are not likely to come down in price, because very few European countries are making the move to DVB-T2, which requires an entire new network to be rolled out.
An ISDB-T trial, to prove that the standard can work in SA, is due to take place in Pretoria. The Brazilian government is waiting for ICASA to approve a licence, which is expected at the end of this month, and will then announce where the trial will take place.
Money offered
Minister counsellor at the Brazilian Embassy in SA Felipe Costi Santarosa says the Brazilian government has provided the DOC with a formal proposal of cooperation. In addition, several delegations of government officials have visited Brazil to gain an understanding of their broadcasting sector, he says.
Lenz says the cooperation offer includes financing through the Brazilian Development Bank for trade between the two countries and foreign direct investment by Brazilian companies. The bank may also fund joint ventures.
Brazil's decision to implement ISDB-T led to the creation of a new industry and bolstered job growth, says Lenz. He argues that the same could happen in SA if it chooses ISDB-T, as the Brazilian government would aid the DOC in getting a new sector off the ground.
The Brazilian government has also offered to provide technical support to aid SA's move to digital TV. This would include assistance to implement policies, and Brazil would share its technical specifications, which would enable SA to move to digital TV within eight months, says Lenz.
Counter arguments
However, Altech CEO Craig Venter says it could take as long as five years to move to digital TV if SA changes standards. Venter says: “There is significant benefit to Brazil in terms of export and licensing of their intellectual property (IP).”
He argues that adopting ISDB-T will not create the local intellectual property that is needed to grow the ICT sector. “Hundreds of millions of rands spent by broadcasters, signal distributors and manufacturers in SA on DVB-T equipment will have been wasted and staff will need to be retrained,” says Venter.
Gerhard Petrick, a Sadiba representative, points out that a set of standards would need to be approved by the South African Bureau of Standards through a consultative process with industry before manufacturing could begin.
This, he says, would take at least 18 months. The last set of standards, based on DVB-T, has yet to be finalised and that process stalled because of the DOC's review.
Petrick points out that ISDB-T has never been tested in an 8Mhz environment, and any comparison tests must be open to industry inspection to make sure that the results are verified and valid.
In addition, Petrick rubbishes the Brazilian claim that ISDB-T decoders are cheaper than DVB-T2. He says the DVB-T2 box, sourced from China, is currently cheaper than an ISDB-T box for 6Mhz, and there are no 8Mhz boxes in production.
“Why should SA consider a fundamental review of standards to adopt something that is not deployed anywhere else in the world and is, at best, on a par with DVB-T?” Petrick argues that SA should look at DVB-T2, which has twice the capacity of DVB-T if it is going to reconsider standards.
Broadcasters etv and M-Net have already taken matters into their own hands and are testing the upgraded DVB-T standard, DVB-T2, in Soweto, they announced last week.
Share