Making digital migration affordable

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 23 Oct 2006

Government will take measures to ensure set-top boxes, which will be required by consumers to access digital content once SA has migrated to digital TV, are priced to allow affordability by low-income consumers, says the Department of Communications.

This is one of the key issues that emerged from the two-day meeting held last week by the digital migration working group, says Norman Munzhalele, the department`s chief director of policy.

At the meeting, the four working groups, dedicated to policy, economics, technical and content, presented their reports to the working group to assist in charting a way forward for the digital migration process, Munzhalele says.

The reports will contribute to the final digital migration report, which will be presented to the communications minister by the end of the November, he adds. The report was initially expected to be ready for the minister in October.

Ensuring affordability

Munzhalele says while a recommended price for set-top boxes has not been decided, government has undertaken to ensure people who earn low incomes are able to afford them.

"The challenge will also be to encourage competition in the market that provides set-top boxes," he notes. To that end, government will consider international as well as local providers, he says.

Government may also have to subsidise set-top boxes to facilitate access for low-income citizens.

Munzhalele notes that digital migration will free up more spectrum, allowing for innovative ways of raising funds through spectrum provision to subsidise set-top boxes.

Big bang approach?

Also under discussion was whether government should form a company dedicated to implementing the digital migration process, and whether the migration process should be done in phases by regions, or with a "big bang".

The public also needs to be educated on the digital migration process, Munzhalele says, adding that time frames for the digital migration switchover plan were also discussed.

As SA should be digital-ready by 2010, the period of double illumination after 2010, where both analogue and digital content is broadcast, is important, he says. The International Telecommunications Union has recommended that all countries switch off analogue by 2015.