The Japanese government intends running another field test to punt the Brazilian upgrade to its digital television standard in Botswana next month.
Japanese officials and engineers were in SA last week to run a trial of the Brazilian upgrade to the ISDB-T digital television standard in a bid to prove the technology can work in SA.
The field test in SA took place just weeks before Southern African Development Community (SADC) communication ministers are expected to announce which standard the region will roll out.
In 2006, SA elected to deploy the European DVB-T standard, before suddenly deciding to investigate the Brazilian version earlier this year. The ISDB-T trial has been seen as a last-ditch attempt by the Japanese and Brazilians to prove their technology works.
Don't be hasty
Tetsuo Yamakawa, vice-minister of internal affairs and communications, says the local trials were “very successful”. Yamakawa was speaking through a translator, after the conclusion of the field test on Friday.
Yamakawa says several delegates from countries in SADC, including Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia, viewed the broadcast. He says the delegates were “relieved”, because the trial showed ISDB-T can work on an 8MHz frequency.
A Japanese delegation will run another test in Botswana, at the beginning of next month, says Yamakawa.
Hideo Fuseda, director of the International Broadcasting Cooperation in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, concedes that this is after SADC communications ministers are expected to announce their decision.
However, he argues that a few more months will not make much difference when it has been more than four years since SA first made the decision to move over to digital television. Fuseda says the SADC ministers could decide to run comparison tests rather than adopt a particular standard.
The local industry has expressed concerns that the standard does not run on an 8MHz frequency anywhere in the world, which would require reengineering of equipment and further investment.
However, the field test was criticised because it did not compare the various technologies with each other to determine which one performs better. Yamakawa says comparisons have been performed between DVB-T and ISDB-T in South American countries and “we always win the comparison”.
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