While government is debating whether to use the Japanese or the European standard when the country moves over to digital television, the debate could cost the country dearly in lost opportunities and wasted investment.
In April, the department decided to review SA's decision to implement the European DVB standard, introducing a Brazilian adaptation of the Japanese ISDB standard as a possible alternative.
Two of the country's largest set-top box manufacturers have warned that the delays will set back the manufacturing process by at least a year, and small manufacturers could miss out on an opportunity to sell their wares to an African market.
SA is in the midst of a changeover period from analogue broadcasting and has been testing digital broadcast systems in preparation for turning off the old analogue signal. The original go-live date was set for next November, in anticipation of global switchover in November 2015.
However, that date was cast aside, apparently because industry was not ready, and no new date has yet been set.
There are several aspects surrounding the move to a digital signal, with the biggest one being that every one of the 10 million television viewing households will need a set-top box to convert the signal so it is viewable on televisions that do not have digital tuners.
Tiyani Rikhotso, department of communications spokesman, says the “review of the standard is currently under way”, but did not provide any timeframes as to when the country's manufacturers can expect clarity.
Left behind
Bertus Bresler, who heads up Reunert's set-top box project, says the company is still designing boxes and has received much interest from Africa, after 2 500 of its boxes were successfully used during the SABC's trials in 2008.
He says once a technology standard has been decided upon, it will take between three to six months to design a new set-top box product. From the date of the first order the company receives to go ahead and manufacture, it will take another nine months before set-top boxes will be on shop shelves.
However, in the meantime, the country is being left behind, says Bresler, as many other African countries are already starting to switch on digital.
Small players
As a result, smaller players in the industry, who were hoping that SA would lead the process on the continent, are missing out on opportunities to use the local switchover as a stepping-stone to compete in Africa. Bresler explains that this will cost the economy in terms of lost jobs, and smaller companies may not have enough capital to wait for a decision.
Part of SA's move to digital includes setting up a manufacturing strategy, which was released in draft form last year.
The strategy aimed to aid smaller empowered manufacturers in setting up businesses that could benefit from local switch-on and then export to Africa. At the time, government anticipated a market size of many millions of boxes.
However, this strategy has since dropped off the radar, as has the Digital Dzonga, which was overseeing the move to digital. The Dzonga, made up of industry representatives, was dissolved in April, because it was deemed to be too closely positioned to industry. A new body has yet to be announced.
Bresler estimates the industry has spent about R300 million on getting ready to switch over to digital, a figure that could increase if SA chooses the Japanese standard rather than the European one. He explains that people would need to be retrained, and more money would have to be invested in technology.
Despite this, Bresler is confident that SA can make the switchover successfully. “It's not impossible, it is achievable, it can be done,” he says.
Waiting game
Theuns Tait, product manager at Altech UEC, says the company's manufacturing lines are currently idle as it waits for government to make a decision.
He explains that since Altech UEC made its test boxes, a new chipset has become available. This means that even if SA goes with the European standard, the company will have to decide whether to use the old chipset, or spend about R1 million on designing new boxes.
Tait says the new chipset is more powerful, has more functionality, and could mean a saving of up to R70 per box by the time it reaches the end-user. However, the company may end up absorbing this cost if going back to the drawing board is too expensive.
Depending on what standard government chooses, it could take as long as a year before South Africans can go out and buy boxes, says Tait. He says it usually takes between six to eight months to manufacture a box after the design work is completed.
However, if government goes with the Japanese standard, the front-end of the box, which includes the demodulator and tuner, will have to be redesigned. This, says Tait, could take up to six months.
“We are playing a wait and see game,” says Tait. He adds that government has not provided the manufacturing industry with any clarity. “All the money spent is wasted because of the delay.”
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