Digital technology will drive the South African Broadcasting Corporation's (SABC's) latest bid to collect outstanding TV licence fees.
The public broadcaster says palmtop PDA computers will lead the way in an initiative to crack down on those watching television without legal licences.
The corporation's service providers are to use the PDAs to download customers' personal information via GPRS, using their ID or licence numbers. They can then update that information, relay it directly to the SABC, and print out provisional licences to be paid at SABC pay-points.
In addition, the downloaded GPRS info "is overlaid on a map of SA", allowing inspectors to identify properties without TV licences in specific areas.
"The days of filling out forms in triplicate are long gone," says Anton Heunis, SABC head of audience services.
The hi-tech service providers identified by the SABC to embark on an intensive licence fee gathering drive as of July, are Professional Mobile Mapping (Gauteng and North West), The Workforce Group (Free State and KwaZulu-Natal), Creditworx S&V (Western Eastern and Northern Cape), and Malebo Manyeleti Holdings (Limpopo and Mpumalanga).
Twenty percent of the SABC's annual operating revenue comes from licence fees and there are over seven million names on the central Oracle SABC server.
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