DoC to review STB bids in September – Pule
Communications Minister Dina Pule expects the Department of Communications (DoC) to be in a position to evaluate bids for the tender to manufacture subsidised set-top boxes (STBs) in September, adding that the first STBs should be available by the end of the year.
In a copy of a speech delivered at the launch of a digital terrestrial television (DTT) awareness campaign in Nkowankowa, near Tzaneen, in the Limpopo province, the Minister said the DoC, this week, met with bidders for the STB tender to explain the implications of the Minister’s decision to review the STB control system.
“They were also updated about the validity of the tender and those who remain interested in the tender have been requested to confirm their bids,” Pule said.
The DoC initially issued the tender for the manufacture of five-million subsidised STBs, in August, last year; however, the awarding of the tender was halted after e.tv launched a court bid to oppose Sentech’s appointment to manage conditional access to the STBs.
In December, the South Gauteng High Court ruled that broadcasters other than Sentech should also be granted conditional access control.
The DoC appealed the ruling but, in February, withdrew its appeal in an effort to fast-track the roll-out of DTT.
STBs are needed to receive a digital terrestrial signal. South Africa made a commitment to the International Telecommunications Union to migrate from an analogue to a digital signal by the middle of 2015.
Meanwhile, Pule said that the DTT network now reached 81% of all South Africans, with Sentech being “hard at work” to ensure all citizens have access to the network by the end of this year.
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