Digital broadcasting migration project, South Africa

19th September 2014

  

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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.

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

Value
The upgrade is expected to cost R1-billion.

Supplying the STBs will cost an estimated R2.45-billion.

Duration
According to an agreement with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the country has until 2015 to complete the migration, after which it will no longer have exclusive use of the frequencies.

Latest Developments
Energy solutions provider Jasco Power has said that it will play a “significant” role in South Africa’s migration to DTT, providing the failover and protection needed for the new enabling equipment being installed nationally by signal distributor Sentech.

Sentech is the major signal distributor for most of the country’s broadcasters, including commercial and community broadcasters, as well as public broadcaster the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

The uninterruptible power sources (UPSs), which are designed, manufactured, installed and commissioned by Jasco, will ensure the reliability of DTT broadcasts when this service is switched on, while providing automatic voltage regulators (AVRs) at switching centres will deliver constant “clean” power to sensitive equipment.

With the ITU deadlines for global switchover to DTT set for mid-2015, gearing the service across Sentech’s 200 transmission sites in South Africa is a priority.

Jasco Power Solutions MD Marco da Silva says that steady, reliable power supply to transmission equipment is crucial to ensuring uninterrupted broadcasts.

“The UPSs are tailormade to meet the physical and capacity needs of each site, with an emphasis on future scalability and compactness of design and, as many of these sites are remote and difficult to access, form factor is a key consideration,” he notes.

Jasco Power has designed four different configurations to meet the needs of various sites before sourcing the hardware components and developing the UPS’s.

Four specialised Jasco teams then delivered and installed the equipment, travelling across the country to more than 70 sites, many of which were remote and accessible only using off-road vehicles.

The awarding of a contract to install AVRs at two of Sentech’s main switching sites followed.

“This equipment will ensure constant ‘clean’ power is available to sensitive switching equipment,” says Da Silva, adding that installation of equipment to enable DTT nationally is between 60% and 70% complete.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
The project is five-and-a-half-years behind schedule.

There have been several migration delays since South Africa reached an agreement with the ITU in 2006 to migrate from an analogue to a digital signal by mid- 2015.

One of the major stumbling blocks was the dispute about whether the STBs should have control system.

The South African Communications Forum previously told Engineering News Online that delays in South Africa’s transition to digital television had cost the country’s STB manufacturing industry more than R50-million and had stressed that any more delays would lead to further losses.

Communications Minister Yunus Carrim has pointed out that the scrapping of the control system will result in a further 36-week delay – and not the six-month delay as was initially thought – as the SABS will need to rework the STB specifications (SANS 862) to exclude the STB control system.

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

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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