Broadcasters and other terrestrial TV stakeholders are concerned that 100% coverage of digital networks by 2011 is over-ambitious.
Orbicom, expected to be the broadcasting carrier for digital TV, says the draft regulation submitted by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) is unreasonable.
“Even now, after decades of broadcasting, the SABC coverage does not approach 100%,” says the company's submission to ICASA.
Orbicom says ICASA's regulations do not take into account the frequencies that will be licensed to broadcasting during the dual illumination period.
Broadcaster M-Net, currently with one channel in the trial phase of digital migration, revealed in its submission that SABC1 has 89% coverage, SABC2 has 92.5% and SABC3 only reached 82.1% of the local population.
“It is unreasonable for the authority to seek to achieve in three years in the digital environment that which hasn't been achieved since the inception of analogue television in SA in the 1970s,” explains M-Net's submission.
The broadcaster also says that the spectrum, which forms part of the digital migration plan, was cobbled together from unused spectrum in the UHF and VHF bands.
“This will not be an optimum assignment, nor will it be able to prove 100% coverage.”
M-Net is concerned the objectives set out by ICASA to provide the prescribed coverage do not coincide with the aims of dual illumination.
According to the objectives of dual illumination, broadcasters must continue to provide services in analogue, while broadcasting in digital.
ICASA says it will take all submissions into account. It has not yet released any definitive response.
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