Name and Location
Digital broadcasting migration project, South Africa.

Client
The Department of Communications (DoC) and Sentech.

Project Description
Digital terrestrial television (DTT) is the implementation of digital technology to provide more channels and/or better picture quality and sound using a conventional television antenna or aerial, instead of a satellite dish or cable connection.

In 2005, State-owned enterprise Sentech announced its plans to roll out DTT using digital video broadcasting terrestrial (DVB-T) technology, in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Initially, there will be two DVB-T transmitters for each location or site.

The first phase of the project involves upgrading the Sentech broadcast network and duplicating the current analogue network channels on a digital system.

Most of the 220 sites needed to broadcast DTT to 92% of South Africa's population are in place, but have to be upgraded to become fully digital. Once that process has been completed, DTT and analogue systems will run simultaneously (a dual-illumination process) until South Africa is ready to switch off analogue transmission. This decision will be made by government.

Consumers will require a set-top box (STB) to decode the signal, even for public broadcasting and free-to-air channels. The STBs are expected to be subsidised.

Once the migration to DTT is complete, the country will no longer have exclusive use of the frequencies.

Value
The upgrade is expected to cost R4.3-billion.

Duration
According to an agreement with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the country has until 2015 to complete the migration.

Latest Developments
Free-to-air broadcaster e.tv has been given permission to take its fight against the government’s digital migration policy to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Pretoria High Court Judge Bill Prinsloo granted e.tv leave to appeal on November 6‚ signalling further delay to the country’s fraught attempt to migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting.

The move to digital‚ which is mandatory globally‚ is behind schedule after South Africa missed the June 17 deadline.

The case heard in the High Court concerns STBs that government plans to subsidise so that households without a digital platform‚ such as a pay-TV decoder‚ can receive a digital signal.

Communications Minister Faith Muthambi has amended government’s policy, adding that the STBs will not have an encryption function.

e.TV argues that the amendment effectively bars it from ever being able to encrypt its broadcasts because the cost of doing this at a later stage is prohibitive.

While encryption is not necessary to receive free-to-air broadcasts‚ e.tv has said that its ability to encrypt future broadcasts is “essential to its business plans” because without it‚ audiences will experience second-rate viewing and be unable to watch premium shows.

Multichoice’s M-Net and the South African Broadcasting Corporation have disputed this.

Judge Prinsloo has agreed‚ saying in his judgment that the government should not have to pay for the private‚ commercial aims of individual broadcasters.

However, Prinsloo has said that since his judgment involves the interpretation of legislation‚ “there is a reasonable prospect that different courts may come to different conclusions”.

Moreover‚ the legislation at the centre of the court battle is relatively new and has yet to be considered by any other court‚ he says.

“The broadcasting digital migration process is something that directly affects the vast majority of people in this country. It is a matter of national importance,” Judge Prinsloo has said.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
South Africa officially missed a key international digital migration deadline  on June 17.

Contact Details for Project Information
DoC media liaison officer Siya Qoza, tel +27 12 427 8511.
Sentech, tel +27 11 691 7000.