Over 100 broadcasting experts and ICT leaders including the ITU specialists were left waiting, after communications minister Roy Padayachie did not show up to deliver the keynotes and officially open the annual Digital Broadcasting Switchover Forum yesterday.
The conference organised by the London-based Commonwealth Telecommunication's Organisation (CTO) - which is scheduled to run for three days - kicked off in Sandton, Johannesburg yesterday.
The CTO said it was expecting the minister or a representative from the ministry but never got any word and the conference had to commence without the keynotes.
However, the DOC spokesperson, Tiyani Rikhotso, told ITWeb this morning that the minister sent his apologies to the CTO. “He told the CTO that he was not going attend the conference due to other commitments,” he added.
The conference's aim was to discuss and deliberate on the progress made in the switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting in Africa. It seeks to address issues of policy and regulation, the adoption of the new European standard BVB-T2, funding mechanisms, technology, international frequency planning, the Digital Dividend, among others.
The minister's no show comes a few weeks after the minister announced that the cabinet has endorsed a Southern African Development Community (SADC) decision to use the European DVB-T2 digital standard to migrate from analogue broadcast.
In November, SADC communications ministers elected to use DVB-T2 as the digital standard for migration from analogue broadcasting. The region set November 2013 as a deadline to turn off the old format signal.
The deadline for the global digital switch over set by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is 15 June 2015.
No show-stopper
However, the minister's absence did not stop the conference from kicking off, even though it started later than expected.
Speakers at the conference agreed that African countries face the prospect of failing to meet the 2015 deadline set by the ITU for all countries to make the transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting.
According to the speakers, the countries are facing a variety of challenges - from the regulators to operators who will have to replace their equipment to viewers who will have to invest in set-top boxes.
On the challenges faced by African countries in its digital switchover strategy, the CEO of CTO, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, said: “The migration from analogue to digital technologies can be a challenging one for a continent as large as Africa.”
However, he said shared best practices from 'digital-ready' countries can help alleviate some of the challenges faced during the migration.
“While these are challenges are not new to any country that has gone through a digital switchover, in Africa it also addresses its socio-economic developmental needs, thereby bringing it closer to the [UN] Millennium Development Goals.”
It also creates new opportunities, that of deploying advanced technologies and building electronic manufacturing hubs to meet the upcoming demands of needs such as a set-box, he says.
Collaboration is key
He called on governments, regulators and the private sector to work close together to expedite the process and to always bear in mind that consumer interest should be at centre of migration actions.
“Governments, regulators and operators can learn from each other, exchange information, data and staff freely,” he pointed out.
He said stakeholders should take advantage of the vast expertise available in the Commonwealth and through CTO like training and capacity building, and advisory and consultancy services.
He suggested that countries develop, review and update their national action plans as switch-off dates are not as far as seems. “We should also not forget to integrate policy and regulatory decisions with technology choices,” he added.
The speakers at the conference said the continent has to act fast Africa to prevent dumping of obsolete analogue TV equipment into the Africa.
Share