Communications minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says implementation of the digital migration process is still “firmly on course” in South Africa.
This, as the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) carries out the analogue switch-off in Mpumalanga today, becoming the fourth province to migrate to digital transmitters.
Ntshavheni indicates the revised integrated Broadcast Digital Migration (BDM) and analogue switch-off implementation plan seeks to improve media services to society.
Mpumalanga now joins the Free State, Northern Cape and North West provinces to have switched-off analogue signal transmitters.
Speaking on SABC’s Morning Live, Ntshavheni said: “Today, we are going digital. We are moving from analogue to digital in the province of Mpumalanga. The site that we’re in also transmits to portions of Limpopo…when we switch off here those portions are also going off.
“This is also a sign that we have extended [digital] terrestrial television coverage in the country. This means that even those without set-top boxes [STBs], if they’ve got a digital TV, they are able to get better picture quality and more channels from their public broadcaster and etv, currently.”
After missing the International Telecommunication Union-mandated June 2015 migration deadline, South Africa is playing catch-up on digital migration. Additionally, the country’s analogue switch-off process has been hampered by a series of missteps that bogged down the process even further.
South Africa’s digital migration is important because it will allow for the spectrum dividend occupied by the analogue signals to be freed up for the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s planned spectrum auction.
In regards to the BDM programme, what’s of importance is the journey of freeing up the spectrum, emphasises Ntshavheni, indicating this is the spectrum that will be auctioned by the end of March, as noted by president Cyril Ramaphosa.
“This is so that we can improve connectivity of the country…we can use the spectrum to make sure all South Africans without network connectivity are connected.
“The required and rare resource of spectrum is going to be freed-up today, as we commit to that journey to say come 31 March, our spectrum will be available for use.”
Government has undertaken to assist indigent households, who apply for assistance, with STBs, which are required to convert digital broadcasting signals on analogue TV sets.
Indigent households − those with an income of R3 500 per month or less – were given until the end of October 2021 to register for STB subsidies.
The minister has further called on members of the public to migrate from the old analogue to the contemporary digital television, emphasising that government assistance is available to qualifying households by registering at their nearest post office.
Alternatively, they can register by clicking here, WhatsApp on 0600 625 458 or by calling 0860 736 832 for more information.
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