Digital television in South Africa
- Digital television in South Africa
The first digital television implementation in South Africa was a satellite-based system launched by pay-TV operator Multichoice in 1995. On 22 February 2007 the South African government announced that the country's public TV operators would be broadcasting in digital by 1 November 2008, followed by a three year dual-illumination period which would end on 1 November 2011.
On 11 August 2008 the Department of Communications announced its Digital Migration Policy. The policy will govern the switchover from analogue to digital transmission, and states that the Department will provide funding to the national signal distributor Sentech to begin the migration process according to the published timetable. The timetable is phased as follows:
*8 Aug 2008 - MultiChoice launches South Africa’s first HD channel (DSTV channel 170)
*1 Nov 2008 - begin digital transmissions (DTV)
*31 Dec 2009 - 50% of households receive DTV
*31 Dec 2010 - 80% of households receive DTV
*1 Nov 2011 - ~100% digital coverage and switch-off of all remaining analogue transmitters
During the period 2008-2011, Sentech will transmit both analogue and digital signals in what is known as a dual-illumination period. Households not already using digital televisions will need to purchase a set-top box (STB) in order to continue receiving a television signal. The government plans to subsidise poorer households by 70% of the purchase price of the STB. The STBs will be manufactured locally by a number of different South African companies, the largest of which is Altech, a major local electronics company that also manufactures the STBs for Multichoice.
The government's stated goal is to have digital television as well as mobile television up and running in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament to be hosted by South Africa.
External links
* [http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/?p=3533 Broadband TV News article]
* [http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=&fArticleId=3696668 Business Report article]
* [http://www.doc.gov.za/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=97&Itemid=431 Department of Communications Digital Migration Policy]
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