Pick a standard, any standard

It was a really good idea - SA would use the pending move to digital terrestrial television broadcast as a catalyst for getting an entire manufacturing industry off the ground.

Manufacturers of broadcasting equipment and set-top boxes started frenzied planning, because we were going to follow in the footsteps of 120 countries and use a European digital broadcasting standard. Millions were spent, equipment was designed, and testing started.

The Department of Communications (DOC) joined the party - and released a draft set-top box manufacturing strategy, which aimed to spur electronics manufacturing in SA. The paper pointed out that SA has the potential to sell our homegrown technology all over Africa, to millions of people.

Moreover, the strategy said, small empowerment companies would be included in this feast, and larger groups would help them get there. More money was spent by smaller, excited firms gearing up to make the decoders needed to turn analogue televisions into sets that are able to receive digital broadcast.

Even the very poor would benefit. The department would not only subsidise the boxes for those who could not afford them, but make sure the decoders had a built in return path, which allows citizens to communicate with government.

The possibilities were endless - although never spelt out - and the boxes could be used to send health warnings, fill in forms, and connect with government in other ways.

Then the Brazilians came to SA. En route back from Mozambique, or somewhere similar, a Brazilian delegation decided to pop along to Pretoria and have a chat with top people at the department.

The point of the visit was to showcase the Brazilian standard, which is a modification of the Japanese ISDB-T digital standard. The Brazilians claim their standard is better, because it enables mobile TV without any extra investment, and is more robust and more efficient.

Halting the entire process so late in the game can only have dire consequences.

Nicola Mawson, senior journalist, ITWeb

Apparently, the department chiefs liked what they heard, and in April the entire industry was put into a tizz when the DOC said it was reviewing its 2006 decision to go with the European DVB-T standard.

The reasons industry is annoyed are simple - about R300 million has already been sunk into the move to digital, and everyone is now familiar with DVB-T. The investments that have been made mean the local industry can produce boxes for the entire continent.

However, changing the standard this late in the game - international switch-off of the analogue signal is set for November 2015 - may mean SA could miss the deadline. In addition, millions more will have to be spent, new electronics made, and new specifications written.

The entire process has stalled. This may not be a problem for larger manufactures that have other target markets, like satellite, but is a big problem for small companies that have invested money in stationary manufacturing lines.

In addition, industry expects it to take at least a year from when a decision is actually made to get boxes into shops. During this time, our precious window of opportunity to capture the African market and launch a new electronics sector is closing.

We can debate the pros and cons of either standard until we turn blue in the face and pass out from sheer exhaustion. Both sides have arguments and counter-arguments, and often contradict each other.

I don't know if choosing to implement ISDB-T is the right choice for Africa, or whether we should just stick with the proven DVB-T. I can't say with any authority whether the Brazilians' technology is better, which they say it is, and I have no idea whether DVB-T is as good as it is claimed either.

Frankly, I don't think that either technology is superior; I think that it's all much of a muchness. Surely, whatever we go with will eventually be upgraded, fine-tuned and require more investment anyway.

However, I do think that government's decision to review the standard is fatally flawed - coming as it did a few short years before our original switch off date of November 2012. We do need to make sure we have the best option for the country, but could this not have been investigated years ago?

Halting the entire process so late in the game can only have dire consequences. Many companies run the risk of closing their doors, and Africa will become China's playing field, not SAs.

In addition, if we fail to launch sometime soon, the department's dream of using digital television as a launch pad for an entire new industry, which would create jobs and stimulate economic growth, will fade into obscurity - yet another well-intentioned plan that failed.

The department needs to stop faffing around, and make a decision, any decision, because SA needs to build its own intellectual property, have a vibrant electronics market, and get some people off the streets and into jobs.