Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) minister Dr Siyabonga Cwele was invited by the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) to address business executives at an early-December event held at Neotel’s head office in Midrand.
There he reiterated his confidence that South Africa will meet the June 2015 deadline set by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for the completion of the process of migrating the country’s terrestrial television broadcasts from decades-old analog technology to a more advanced, more efficient digital format.
This revelation comes despite the almost unanimous consensus amongst industry pundits that the newest deadline will be the next in a string of delays dating back to the planned switch-on of digital broadcasts in November 2008 and switch-off of analog broadcasts in November 2011. In fact there are still question marks over which department is even responsible for the project, with a recent rumour having suggested that it may have been handed over to the Department of Communications (DoC).
While previous deadlines were essentially self-imposed lines in the sand, June 2015 is a solid granite barrier built by the ITU to protect South Africa’s neighbours from interference that would be caused were the country allowed to continue broadcasting on frequencies that will become restricted on that date.
Cwele stated that, for this reason, SA’s border areas will be prioritised for switchover, following high-level discussions with its neighbours. The bottom line is that, unless both the infrastructure is in place and set-top boxes for decoding digital signals are available come 17 June 2015, citizens in those areas will be unable to watch terrestrial TV (satellite and Internet streaming services will remain unaffected) until the switchover takes place.
The continuing use of analog frequency spectrum also means that it cannot be used for wireless Internet services, which the DPTS has long identified as a priority of its broadband action plan.
Publishers going postal
Technews Publishing attended the SACCI event to represent a workgroup of business-to-business (B2B) publishers which is lobbying for the DTPS to urgently remedy the problems facing the South African Post Office (SAPO).
Unfortunately these publishers were left disappointed and none the wiser as to exactly how and when SAPO will get its house in order. All that the minister would say on this subject was to repeat that the board had been dismissed and the appointed administrator had identified critical issues that need to be addressed. He stated that the DTPS is seeking the right people to manage SAPO going forward, and urged support for SAPO through continued use of its services while it works to modernise its processes.
The publishers, on the other hand, have officially and unequivocally stated their intention to do exactly the opposite, as desperation has grown to find a reliable method of having their periodicals delivered. In point of fact, discussions have already progressed substantially towards implementing delivery alternatives.
South Africans are nothing if not inventive, and there’s no doubt that the business sector will, and must, work out a solution that is not dependent on SAPO. What’s more, the postal problems have been so disastrous and so lengthy that those who have been burnt worst by them will likely do their utmost to avoid using SAPO ever again.
Minister Cwele may well find that by the time its processes are modernised (assuming he hasn’t been assigned to another government post by then) SAPO will be nothing but a white elephant.
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