The big turn off

South Africa has been accused of sometimes being a bit behind the times, such as with the delay in allowing a television signal to penetrate our homes. In addition, our signal is currently working off technology from the 1970s, which is when the evil box was allowed into the country.

Now we are joining the rest of the world with digital signal. But, at what cost to our citizens?

The theory is simple. The television signal will be upgraded to digital, and the outdated analogue transmission will be turned off. And we'll need a little box to turn the new signal into something palatable for our television sets.

Globally, analogue will be switched off in 2015. SA aims to be ahead of this curve, with an ambitious three-year plan to turn off analogue in 2011.

But, to do this, something like 10 million households need to either buy new television sets that can handle the signal, or acquire set-top boxes that will convert the input.

New flat-screen televisions on the market are not cheap. Most of the new televisions available cannot receive the new signal, because they don't have digital tuners, so the sets cannot “tune in”.

But, assuming that new sets will not cost much more than current high-definition-ready boxes, frankly, a little R700 box will be cheaper.

A look at broadsheet specials from Game indicates the cheapest high-definition-ready set is R5 999. Makro has a smaller-sized television on offer, but it's still R3 999 - almost six times the cost of the set-top box. But these televisions would still require digital tuners.

Although these boxes are expected to be cheaper than a whole new television, quite a bit of cash still has to be spent.

Government has set aside R2.45 billion to subsidise the decoders for the five million poorest households. Boxes will be subsidised by up to 70%, with the expectation that the final costs of the units would be between R400 and R700.

Assuming the boxes do not come in on budget, and cost the upper end of the range, this would still leave poor households to fork out just over R200.

This might not seem like a lot of cash to dole out for middle and high-end earners, after all R200 is not even a night out on the town, but to the poorest of the poor, it could be a fortnight's worth of food.

I also don't buy the argument that if the poor could afford to buy a television in the first place, they should be able to afford the box.

I suspect that a lot of these televisions came from the haves. Either they were donated, or dumped, I'd guess, by people who couldn't be bothered to fix them. And then an enterprising soul put one in a supermarket trolley, wheeled it home, and fixed it.

There are many advantages to the change in signal from analogue to digital. The best part of it - apart from an update from ancient technology - is that the digital signal has the ability to connect South Africans to the government they voted into power.

Although these boxes are expected to be cheaper than a whole new television, quite a bit of cash still has to be spent.

Nicola Mawson, group financial editor, ITWeb

Decoders will be able to send and receive data, instead of just being a one-way channel. This opens up infinite possibilities for communication.

Being able to fill in a form through my television instead of standing in a queue to apply for government services really appeals to me. Not only will I save time, but also petrol - which in itself could justify the cost of the set-top box, depending on how many return trips are required.

And the government will also be able to deliver communication and services in all of SA's languages.

The thought that the boxes may be able to make it possible for South Africans to view a form requesting something or other from government, or perhaps even a programme, with subtitles in their language, is a pleasing one. No more being cut off because you don't speak the right language.

Frankly, I'm all for technological change, but not if it means that citizens are cut off from the signal that provides news, views and entertainment, just because they cannot afford the difference between the subsidised amount and set-top box.

I think that if government is forcing a changeover, it should jolly well pay for it. Ditto new driver's licence cards, number plates and any other great ideas it may have in the future.