Name of the Project
Digital broadcasting migration project.

Location
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.

Jobs to be Created
Not stated.

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

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

Latest Developments
South Africa’s digital broadcast migration project has been delayed once again, as the agency behind the roll-out of the STBs has temporarily halted production of these devices.

STBs decode digital signals for analogue television sets and government plans to distribute these devices to about five-million poorer households.

The roll-out is key to South Africa’s digital migration project, which intends to shift the South African Broadcasting Corporation from analogue signals and to open up radio frequencies for faster mobile broadband services.

A Supreme Court of Appeal judgment in May struck down Communications Minister Faith Muthambi’s decision not to encrypt these boxes. Muthambi and broadcaster MultiChoice are challenging the matter in the Constitutional Court in February.

Amid this fight, Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (Usaasa)  CEO Lumko Mtimde has told Fin24 that production of the devices has been put on ice.

“The suspension of the production of STBs is based on the analysis of the implications of the May 31 Supreme Court of Appeal Judgement and associated risks for Usaasa,” Mtimde has told Fin24 by email.

“The suspension is subject to further discussions with the Minister of communications,” Mtimde said.

Usaasa last year appointed 27 service providers for the supply of equipment such as DTT outdoor antennas and DTT STBs.

Meanwhile, Muthambi has been questioned in Parliament about the country’s slow march towards digital migration.

Earlier this week, the Communications Minister’s office said in a statement that the “Broadcasting Digital Migration Project is well on track” with more than 30 000 households in the Northern Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo having registered with the South African Post Office to receive STBs.

An estimated 600 000 STBs, which have already been produced, are being stored at South African Post Office facilities.

According to Fin24 MPs are demanding answers from Muthambi, with crticism coming from the African National Congress (ANC) and Democratic Alliance (DA) benches.

The Ministry has further said that in October it plans to announce a switch-off date in towns located near the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in the Northern Cape, “where registration and installation has almost reached 99%.”

South Africa missed a key deadline in June last year to switch to digital.

“Your management of this process is found wanting,” said Mmamaloko Kubayi, ANC MP and chairperson of the portfolio committee on telecommunications and postal services.

“This project is moving along at a snail’s pace,” Kubayi added.

“We received a presentation on this matter a year ago and a number of assurances were given. You must look at what has been promised to this committee and you must explain why you’ve deviated from it.”

DA MP Marian Shinn, who is a member of the portfolio committee on telecommunications and postal services, also criticised Muthambi.

“Minister Muthambi has been totally out of her depth since she took over this project,” Shinn has told Fin24.

“Whatever has made the Minister unilaterally change the policy has now led to a two-year court battle. It is not worth the financial cost.”

“This is something the country is desperate for. And as long as this delay perpetuates and we have petty little point scoring going on, we are holding back South Africa’s economic growth. It cannot be endured for much longer. We have to break the logjam,” Shinn has said.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
The process has been dogged by delays as broadcasters fight over whether STBs should be encrypted.

Contact Details for Project Information
DoC Mish Mokaleng, cell +27 82 469 3997.
Sentech, tel +27 11 691 7000.