SA's set-top box manufacturing sector will have to work at double-quick speed to have decoders on the shelves when Sentech turns digital television on next April, as a key standard will only be finalised in the last quarter of this year.
SA is moving from the old analogue signal to digital broadcast. However, to successfully meet the Department of Communications' self-imposed deadline of November 2013, about 10 million households need set-top boxes to receive the new signal on old television sets.
Communications minister Roy Padayachie, presenting his budget vote to Parliament this morning, indicated that a vital standard, which will give local decoder manufacturers the green light to start production, will only be wrapped up in the last quarter of the year.
The industry previously indicated there are several issues that must be sorted out by June, at the latest, so that decoders can be on shelves by April, in time for digital illumination.
In January, the minister said SA would move to digital television using the upgraded European DVB-T2 standard. The announcement ended months of speculation after the department, under former minister Siphiwe Nyanda, decided to review Cabinet's 2006 endorsement of DVB-T.
Issues that need urgent attention include: wrapping up set-top box controls, the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) must finalise a new digital standard, the manufacturing strategy must be completed, and Sentech needs to run trials on DVB-T2. Manufacturing of set-top boxes can only start once these issues have been resolved.
This morning, Padayachie said: “Significant progress has already been made in implementing the broadcasting digital migration policy for SA.”
The minister noted the “department will implement interventions to ensure SA migrates to digital broadcasting by 2013”.
Making progress
Padayachie said an integrated digital terrestrial television project implementation plan has been developed and will be submitted for Cabinet approval in August 2011. The department has established a digital migration project office to drive the plan, he added.
By the end of 2012, Sentech will have upgraded the existing infrastructure to DVB-T2 to cover 80% of the population, to allow all of SA to be covered in time for the switch off of the analogue signal, explained Padayachie. The department has allocated R279 million to Sentech to “prioritise” rolling out digital broadcasting signal coverage to the entire country.
Sentech has already covered about 60% of the population with DVB-T2, and trials of the new standard have successfully shown SA is ready to move to digital on the upgraded European standard, commented Padayachie. The state-owned signal provider will switch on the first test transmission at the Brixton tower, in Johannesburg, next month, said the minister.
Moving to digital television will also expand the amount of channels. Padayachie said the SABC will have more than 10 channels, up from the current three. “These additional channels will provide an opportunity for the growth and transformation of the local content development industry.”
Towards finality
A set-top box strategy, which has been on the cards since the middle of 2009, will be submitted to Cabinet in August, said Padayachie. The plan aims to aid emerging electronics manufacturers to take advantage of digital migration and create a new electronics sector in SA.
“We are consulting widely with industry and relevant stakeholders towards finalising this process.”
Once the strategy has been wrapped up, the department will be able to select preferred manufacturers to make subsidised boxes by November, added Padayachie. The Universal Service and Access Agency has been granted R690 million over the next three years to subsidise set-top boxes for “poor TV-owning households,” said the minister.
Padayachie expects set-top boxes for the rest of the market to start once the SABS standards process has been wrapped up. However, this is only set to be finalised in the last quarter of the year, which leaves manufacturers very little time to get boxes on shelves by the April public launch.
The international deadline to move to digital is mid-2015. After that, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) will no longer protect analogue signal from interference by other countries. Padayachie said the period between the end of 2013 and the ITU deadline will be used to iron out any issues that arise.
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