SA's bold plans to fully switch to digital broadcasting by the end of this year have been dashed, pushing out the possible analogue switch-off date indefinitely.
The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) yesterday published its newly finalised Digital Migration Regulations, which has clouded the possible commercial release date of broadcasters' digital signals.
Former communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri released a policy that would have seen the broadcasters completely shut down the old analogue signal by the beginning of November this year.
However, there have been several delays in the process, with the final regulations only made available yesterday in the Government Gazette. The regulator published a “reasons document” alongside its final regulations set, saying that the industry as a whole is simply not ready.
Box failure
One of the biggest hurdles is the fact that the production of set-top boxes, the decoders used to watch digital TV, is still on hold. The Department of Communications (DOC) is governing the manufacturing of the boxes; however, it has yet to provide any clarity on how it plans to get the boxes to market.
The regulator says it has “liaised with the department on when the decoders will be available”, and will only make a decision about the final cut-off date for analogue broadcasting when the decoders become available.
ICASA did not say when it expected that to be. However, it says broadcasters will be given 60 days' notice before their three-year deadline kicks in. If the regulator makes that decision this year, the soonest the digital switch-off will happen is 2013, only two years shy of the International Telecommunications Union deadline for global analogue switch-off.
However, it is more likely that the soonest SA will migrate is 2014, since, by December last year, manufacturers were still in the dark about the roll-out plans. If the DOC had released that information this month, the manufacturers would still not be ready in time for the end of the year.
Not enough time
The DOC will have to put the set-top box manufacturing process into the fast track soon, if it hopes to get away with the minimum of investment in the dual-illumination period (the time when analogue and digital broadcasting are run together).
The department will fund a subsidy for South Africans who cannot afford to buy the box retail, and is also providing financial help to broadcasters during the dual-illumination period.
While no fixed amount has been allocated to the broadcasters, the shorter the dual-illumination, the smaller the figure. Cabinet approved R2.45 billion for the subsidisation of the decoders to the poorest households, with the expectation that the final costs of the units would be between R400 and R700.
Telecoms operators will also not be impressed that certainty around the dual-illumination period has been cut out of the regulations. Many hope to get their hands on the spectrum that becomes available when the broadcasters leave the analogue frequencies, which could be used for mobile and wireless broadband opportunities.
Despite the delay, several tasks in the migration process have already been started, with the broadcasters already in a test phase with both analogue and digital signals on air. However, most will be happy that they will have more time to prepare for coverage targets set out by the new regulations.
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