The Department of Communications (DOC) received a berating from angry members of Parliament yesterday, over concerns that the country would not be ready to implement digital terrestrial TV (DDTV) in November as planned.
Comments in president Thabo Mbeki's State of the Nation address this year and last year by communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri stated the country would begin to migrate from its 30-year-old analogue TV broadcast system to a digital system. This process is to start in November this year and continue until November 2011.
However, the presentation by the DOC yesterday left members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee extremely unhappy about the situation, as they believe little has been done to make the country ready.
What's needed
"What we need from the DOC are two things: one, a clear policy for going forward; two, clear implementation strategies; and then we need ICASA [the broadcasting regulator] to tell us what their obligations are," said committee chairman Ishmail Vavi, who is a member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
Vavi also pointed out he had not met DOC director-general Lyndall Shope-Mafole since he had assumed his position four months ago.
His comments were supported by members of his own party and by opposition MPs, including the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
The MPs were also annoyed that Shope-Mafole had not arrived for the meeting and had only supplied a verbal apology. There did appear to be some uncertainty over whether she was supposed to attend or not. However, deputy communications minister Roy Padayachie and DOC deputy-director Keith Shongwe did attend.
Some time next week
Themba Phiri, DOC director for policy and regulatory impact assessment, said a policy about DDTV should be gazetted some time next week, although he was not sure if this would happen.
He also stated the DOC was working on finalising the specifications for the set-top boxes (the devices that would convert digital signals to work on analogue TV sets) and that these should be sold for about R400 each.
Phiri also stated the DOC was still working on a plan on how far government should subsidise the set-top boxes so they are affordable to the poor.
He also said the "Digital Dzonga" had been established and that a chairperson had been appointed, but otherwise little progress had been made because the DOC was still in negotiations with the National Treasury on funding.
Dzonga pot-hole
Phiri first described the Digital Dzonga as an "agency", but then later indicated it would be more of an office that would oversee, or advise, on the digital migration issues with a number of sub-committees.
However, the MPs were not mollified and they questioned the setting up of such an office.
"If it is an agency, then surely legislation has to be enacted for it?" asked Randy Pietersen (ANC).
"I know what a donga is. But what is a 'Dzonga'?" Kgotso Khumalo (ANC) asked.
Dene Smuts, communications spokesperson for the DA, asked whether national signal distributor Sentech had been granted the additional funds it needed to build a new transmission network, as it had only received 40% of the almost R956 million it had said it needed. However, no answer was supplied.
A question by Suzanne Vos (IFP) about what plans were in place to curtail the dumping of analogue TVs ahead of the migration was also not answered.
Padayachie attempted to "clarify" some of the issues, but ended up saying: "We have to see exactly what does 1 November 2008 [the switch-on date] actually mean. It probably means we have to demonstrate the capacity to switch on the system. The DOC is not yet ready to put on the table a rigorous migration plan that will deal with timelines, costs and who will manufacture the set-top boxes."
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