SA is finally set to turn on digital television in the Karoo next week, with plans to light up the bulk of the country by the end of the year, a move that will mark the biggest step forward yet in SA's six-year migration.
However, a recent court case brought by etv could scuttle this plan and delay switch-on for up to another two years, while a dispute over set-top box controls is sorted out.
SA is migrating to digital television using the latest European DVB-T2 standard, and initially planned to have finished the task of moving off terrestrial analogue signal by the end of next year. The Department of Communications (DOC) has recently started referring to the international deadline of mid-2015 as the date that will be met.
In the middle of 2015, the International Telecommunications Union will cease to protect analogue broadcast, which means that signal will become subject to interference from cross border countries. SA is a signatory to the 2006 convention to migrate to a digital platform.
Decoder dependant
DOC technical adviser Roy Kruger says the department has planned to switch on digital television across the bulk of SA towards the end of November, or early December, following a launch in the Karoo next week.
However, Kruger says turning on digital TV across most of SA depends on the department awarding tenders to manufacturers and supply set-top boxes for government's subsidy programme.
The state has set aside about R2.45 billion to cover as much as 70% of the cost of the box for about five million houses. So far, the estimated cost of the box is around R400. However, the DOC needs subsidies to the tune of R2.635 billion, over and above the R940 million currently ring-fenced for subsidies.
DOC issued the tender for manufacture towards the end of July and is currently evaluating bids, says Kruger. He says the aim is to award contracts around the end of October, "unless something happens".
However, etv's court bid could delay the process by between 18 months and two years, says Kruger. Etv filed papers against communications minister Dina Pule because she selected Sentech to handle conditional access controls for set-top boxes.
The hearing, scheduled to take place on 16 October in the South Gauteng High Court, is around etv's bid to overturn Pule's decision and have set-top box controls rest in the hands of the South African Broadcasting Corporation and etv, as originally agreed.
Staggered roll out
Kruger says the plan is to go live across the bulk of SA towards the end of the year based on Sentech's current coverage.
So far, more than 60% of the population has DVB-T2 coverage and the aim is to reach 80% by next March. Kruger says, by year-end, around 70% of SA will have been covered with DVB-T2 signal.
Kruger says that most transmitters in the metropolitans have been upgraded to DVB-T2, and Gauteng is 95% covered. However, not all of SA will receive signal via antennas as the remote areas - just more than 10% - will be covered by satellite, he adds.
Sentech's rollout includes eight planned stations for Limpopo, 11 for the Free State, 10 for Mpumalanga, 21 for KwaZulu-Natal, six for the Western Cape, two for the North West, and 10 for the Eastern Cape.
Part of the satellite coverage will include remote areas in the Karoo, which was meant to be lit up in the Karoo today and tomorrow, but the launch had to be postponed due to several international events, including a skateboarding competition, says Kruger.
The department has chosen the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) area, in the Northern Cape, as the launch site to prove that digital TV will work and that frequencies would not interfere with the telescope. The SKA radio telescope project will be shared between SA, Australia and New Zealand.
Kruger says the launch, which is scheduled for 2 and 3 October, will comprise satellite or direct-to-home around the SKA to prove the SKA signals would not interfere with broadcast signals, and DTT transmission to a township near Kimberley, which currently had the only DTT transmitter in the Northern Cape.
Digital migration is expected to create around 23 500 employment opportunities in areas such as manufacturing, installation and maintenance as well as call centres.
Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx, says the turn on is a significant step, as it is the first indication that digital migration is in fact happening and shows that SA is ready to embark on the journey, although there is still much work ahead. "It really represents the proverbial first step in a 1 000km journey."
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