Latest African digital TV score is Rwanda: 1, RSA: 0

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27 August 2014 News

Rwanda has joined Tanzania to become the second sub-Saharan African country to complete the move from analog to digital terrestrial television (DTTV) broadcasting.

Its switchover began with a dual-illumination phase in January this year and was wrapped up on 31 July when the analog broadcast switch was officially turned to the ‘OFF’ position, presumably for good.

In stark contrast, new minister of South Africa’s Telecommunications and Postal Services department, Siyabonga Cwele, missed the deadline of 31 July that he set for his department to have its final broadcasting digital migration (BDM) programme gazetted.

I am well aware that I’m comparing apples with oranges here. Yes, Rwanda is smaller geographically so signal transmission is less of an issue. Yes, Rwanda’s population is one fifth of South Africa’s. Yes, Rwanda is free from the ‘burden’ of having to take manufacturing interests into account and so can simply import from the cheapest supplier. But come on! South Africa is, after all, a country with aspirations to be amongst the continent’s technological elite.

During his recent budget vote speech (the first of his tenure), Cwele stated that “The June 2015 deadline [for switchover] looms before us and we dare not let our people down.” A let-down of this nature now appears inevitable, and here are a couple more to throw on the pile:

For starters, it’s disappointing that, not only was the gazette deadline missed, but the day came and went without any form of apology or even acknowledgement from the department for this failure. In fact, almost two weeks have passed and still not a word. Perhaps any mention by this particular government department concerning ‘deadlines’ should be interpreted as rough ‘guidelines’.

What’s more, while Cwele’s budget vote speech did touch on the fact that local manufacturing would benefit from a timeous migration programme, it’s often overlooked that, for every African country that beats SA in the DTTV race, the resulting loss of credibility makes it that much easier for set-top boxes and related hardware made overseas to gain a foothold in those markets, at the expense of huge long-term potential for SA’s manufacturers.

The department of Telecommunications and Postal Services is in for a let-down of its own when the migration process does eventually get into full swing, because there is going to be a thunderous public outcry over the expense and inconvenience citizens will be faced with. The only reason this hasn’t happened already, and the final let-down (for now), is because there has been so little education of the public that most have no clue what digital TV is all about, why it’s necessary or even that it’s on the horizon.

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Latest African digital TV score is Rwanda: 1, RSA: 0

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