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 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.

Latest Developments
The final two sites to transmit the broadcasting frequencies of South Africa’s DTT platform will go live in March 2016.

State-owned signal distributor Sentech will switch on two of the four greenfield sites – in Burgersfort, Limpopo, and in Holy Cross, in the Eastern Cape – after flipping the switch on a site in Harrismith, in the Free State, and one in Ngqeleni, in the Eastern Cape, in July this year.

This comes as the Department of Communications moves to implement the final stages of  South Africa’s years-overdue transition from analogue television broadcasting to digital broadcasting.

In a phased approach over the next 36 months, starting in the final quarter of this year, the analogue frequencies will be switched off province by province as the subsidised STBs are deployed and the much-anticipated analogue switch-off programme starts.

In March, Sentech went live on all 178 of its upgraded DTT migration transmitters across South Africa, with all 182 sites expected to ensure a digital terrestrial population coverage of 84.46% and geographic coverage of 58.49%.

The balance will be covered by satellite transmissions.

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.