DIGI-TV

This emerged at the official launch of Digital Dzonga (Digital South), the project to convert SA`s TV broadcasting from analogue to digital. South Africa has set ambitious deadlines for the conversion, aiming to beat many developed nations in the race to switch to digital. The international deadline for a complete switch to digital broadcasting is 2015.

Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda said at the official launch of the Digital Dzonga project that the migration to digital is about more than just a better quality TV signal. "For us, it is also a means to address our socio-economic challenges and meet the Millennium Development Goals," he said.

It is expected that digital TV will bring with it the ability to take interactive services and e-government into people`s homes too.

Emphasising government`s determination to complete the migration to digital by 2011, Nyanda said: "The long-term benefits of the policy choice we made as a country far outweigh the costs inherent in the route taken.  We did so knowing the magnitude and complexity of the work at hand and the impact of this process on all of us alike: government, labour, industry, consumers and the general public."

Nyanda says SA`s digital switch-over plan may be ambitious, but it`s a good one. So good, in fact, that it was nominated alongside those of Finland and Sweden as one of the best switch over plans at the Digital Switchover Strategies conference in London earlier this year. The whole project is being driven by a highly qualified Digital Dzonga Advisory Council, which will report to a Digital Migration Office to be established within the Department of Communications (DOC) soon.

AMBITIOUS PLANS

The first digital broadcast signal was switched on in November last year, and broadcasters look set to meet the 2011 deadlines.

The Digital Dzonga advisory council hopes to have 60% of SA covered for digital terrestrial TV (DTT) by the time the first commercial service goes live.

According to Lara Kantor, chairperson of the council, the major metro cities - Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban - should be covered with a digital signal by the planned release date of April next year.

When the commercial service goes live, consumers will receive around 16 free-to-air channels out of the box, Kantor says. "These will be standard definition. For the time being, no high definition channels have been planned."

Consumers who already subscribe to DStv and receive the free-to-air channels through satellite will not receive all the new channels, which are expected to be added as a bouquet with the digital migration.

THE STB HURDLE

A major hurdle in the way of complete migration to digital is the manufacture, possible subsidisation and distribution of the set-top boxes that will be needed to decode the digital signal for viewers.

Nyanda said the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) had released the set-top-box (STB) specifications, but the DOC was still finalising an STB manufacturing strategy. Major players like Altech and Ellies are champing at the bit to begin manufacturing the STBs for retail, but details of how the subsidised STBs will be made and rolled out are still unclear.

The STBs are expected to cost around R700 each, and may be priced out of reach of millions of South Africans.

The DOC recently resurrected the idea of developing a local STB manufacturing industry specifically to produce the government-subsidised STBs.

The "Set-Top Box Manufacturing Development Strategy for SA", released recently, aims to develop local manufacturing capabilities, as well as build an industry that can export the boxes and strengthen SA`s engineering skills base. The DOC aims to publish the strategy by September, and has asked for comments on the draft strategy to be given by 7 August.

There are six companies in SA that already manufacture set-top boxes, and three of these have engineering capability, the new draft document says. It expects more companies to enter the sector, which opens up opportunities for empowerment and small enterprise development.

About R2.45 billion has been budgeted to subsidise boxes for about five million households that cannot afford them. Of this, R400 million is to be spent this year. Nyanda says 87% of South Africans own a TV set, and the DOC will work with the Department of Social Development to determine which homes will be eligible for the subsidy.

SPREADING THE WORD

Another hurdle will be educating TV viewers. A recent ITWeb investigation found that even many electronics retailers are misinformed about what will be required for viewers to pick up the digital signal. To spread the word, the Digital Dzonga Advisory Council will push an extensive education campaign to inform consumers about digital terrestrial TV.

Lara Kantor says one of the council`s key objectives is to get consumers ready to "go digital".

The group is putting together a campaign that will begin with an FAQ and instructional video on what going digital will mean for the average South African TV viewer. Alongside the campaign, the Dzonga will accredit installers and test the equipment that is produced by manufacturers. Retail groups are also planning to educate their staff. David Sussman, executive chairman of JD Group, which owns Hi-Fi Corporation and Incredible Connection, says a training module is being prepared and will be running next month. Brian Leroni, group corporate affairs executive at Massmart, which owns Dion Wired, Game and Makro, says full training sessions for all sales staff on the new TV sets and set-top boxes will be conducted, and there will also be sign-posted shopper communications.

However, he says, the group  is waiting for final details from the SABC and the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) before starting training.

"We do not want to assume anything as far as ICASA and SABC goes on DTT, and risk ill-advising our customers," Leroni says.