Government has indicated set-top boxes could start rolling off production lines by next March, a full year after the initial deadline for decoders.
The boxes are essential to allow about 10 million households to continue watching television once the country moves from an analogue signal to digital broadcast. Digital television is expected to improve South Africans' viewing experience.
Department of Communications (DOC) DG Mamodupi Mohlala was quoted by the Business Day today as saying the set-top boxes would see “the light of day” by the end of the 2010/11 financial year. She was not available to comment this morning.
Karen Willenberg, broadcasting council head at the Digital Dzonga, says the timeframe is challenging considering the volumes of decoders that need to be produced. She adds that there are several issues that need to be resolved, such as policy on how to implement the subsidy scheme for the poor.
Set-top boxes were initially expected to go on sale in the first half of this year. However, the entire digital migration schedule has already been delayed, because industry was not ready. It is still unclear when SA will switch over.
However, while the industry says it is ready to start making the decoders, there are a number of issues and policies that still need to be wrapped up. Earlier this month, Allied Technologies' set-top box business, Altech UEC, said it was gearing up to start making the decoders.
Altech CEO Craig Venter let slip that the manufacturing process is expected to get off the ground in October. The news followed the communication regulator's announcement last month that the digital migration process had been delayed, because decoders were not available.
The Independent Communications Authority of SA published its Digital Migration Regulations last month and pushed out the deadline for migration, because the production of decoders was on hold.
The DOC is governing the manufacturing of the boxes, but has yet to provide any clarity on how it plans to get the boxes to people, especially those it will be subsidising. Government has earmarked R2.45 billion to partially pay for boxes for the poorest households.
Up in the air
Anton Lan, business development director at Altech UEC and a member of the Digital Dzonga council, says government will need to clarify several issues by August at the latest for boxes to be on the shelves by March.
An important aspect is that security controls still need to be approved by the broadcasters, and a vendor appointed to develop the standards.
Lan says a certification authority will also have to be appointed to make sure the controls match the specification. In addition, he explains, other issues such as the television network need to be wrapped up before digital television can be switched on.
At the moment, broadcasters are testing digital signal in major metropolitans. However, this would need to be expanded across SA, and more content would have to be developed and licensed for broadcast. Lan says digital migration “requires a co-ordinated project approach from all stakeholders”.
Industry concerns
Specifications for the boxes were wrapped up in the middle of last year, allowing manufacturers to make and test decoders without security controls.
Ellies CEO Wayne Samson says the company has been testing boxes for a year. Ellies has signed a distribution agreement with Altech UEC. He concurs that it is possible that boxes could hit the shelves by March next year, assuming the security mechanism is finalised.
The security mechanism, which is similar to a smart card, is intended to act as a region lock, which will prevent imported boxes from being used in SA, as government aims to establish a local manufacturing sector. It will also disable decoders meant for use in SA from receiving signal outside the country's borders, limiting the appeal of boxes to thieves.
However, the viability of establishing a manufacturing sector has been called into question. It is meant to evolve into an electronic manufacturing industry that will give small and black-owned businesses a boost.
Last year, the DOC released a draft manufacturing strategy, which was then debated at a colloquium. However, the final strategy has yet to see the light of day.
Samson says it would be more viable to enable small and medium companies to become installers, as this would remain sustainable as the demand for television grows in SA.
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