Current broadcasting plans will leave roughly seven million South Africans without high-definition (HD) TV, until long after 2012.
With neither etv, nor the SABC keen to offer HD channels on the current structures, it is unlikely those without access to DSTV will experience high-definition until long after the digital migration process is completed in 2012.
According to Anton Lan, Altech UEC's business development director and councillor on the Digital Dzonga, the current iteration of the regulations do not cater for HD for the free-to-air broadcasters.
At public hearings held last week by the Independent Communications Authority of SA, etv revealed it would be impossible to provide an HD channel without increased access to the multiplex it has been given.
The SABC says it will also not broadcast HD, since the current iteration of regulations does not cater for the service. Many had hoped the SABC would provide an HD service for the coming 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup.
A study conducted by the South African Research Foundation shows 78% of South Africans only have access to free-to-air services, leaving roughly 7.1 million people without access to high-definition.
However, Lan points out that simply having access to more than four channels will be a step up for the majority of the free-to-air viewers. He says HD will make a natural second phase, and he expects some of the broadcasters, like SABC and etv, to begin piloting HD channels even before then.
While internationally, HDTV has seen a dramatic increase in both viewership and broadcasting, SA still lags behind on the technology needed to access the service. MultiChoice is currently the only broadcaster in SA that broadcasts an HD service, which it launched in 2008.
Research conducted by Oracle Airtime Sales, commissioned by the National Association of Broadcasters, shows that of the 10 million TV-watching households in SA, an estimated 70 000 have an HD TV and only 30 000 have access to a decoder that can read HD services.
The report also says the growth of HD in SA will only start to pick up after 2014 and will depend entirely on whether it becomes a less expensive technology. HD television sets currently cost anywhere between R8 000 and R33 000, depending on the size, leaving the actual technology out of reach for the average citizen.
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