Impact of digital migration assessed

Johannesburg, 10 Aug 2006

The digital migration working group is to present a report to communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri in October, the Department of Communications says.

Earlier this year the working group, which has a mandate to adopt and implement an appropriate strategy to migrate the country from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting infrastructure, said it would submit its recommendations to the minister by the end of the financial year in March.

However, the working group later recommended a feasibility study be conducted to determine the economic impact of the digital migration process on the country as a whole. The minister`s report was postponed to the second quarter of 2006, the department`s communications director Albi Modise said at the time.

Preliminary results

Modise says Windsor Consultants, an Australia-based company that has been appointed to conduct the feasibility study, presented its preliminary report at an internal departmental workshop last week.

Communications has looked at different migration models that could potentially be applicable to the SA market, he says. Issues affecting the decision include the potential cost of migration, the impact on various sectors that are related to broadcasting (such as TV manufacturers), as well as South African society as a whole, Modise explains.

While he would not reveal details of the preliminary findings of the study, he says the Department of Communications will consult with ICT stakeholders more broadly to ensure the final report presented to the minister is as consultative as possible.

The digital migration strategy is scheduled for implementation in the 2008 / 09 financial year, he says.

The second Regional Radio Communications Conference, held in Geneva, which took place under the auspices of the International Telecommunications Union, agreed that analogue broadcasting be phased to digital, and the migration process should end by June 2015.