That is the word from the communications department, which is in charge of making sure that the big switch from analogue to digital broadcasting happens by 2011.
“There are no signs to suggest that we will not be ready by 2011. One of our goals is to speed up uptake and use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) among South Africans,” department spokesman Joe Makhafola said.
“Digital television applications have an important role to reach especially rural regions effectively for interactive solutions. It is in the interests of both government and its citizens that we accelerate uptake and use of ICTs,” he said.
From November, broadcasters will start transmitting a digital signal, on a trial basis, in addition to the analogue signal which most households receive.
Set-top boxes, which will allow households with analogue TVs to receive a digital signal, need to be developed and rolled out by November 1 2011, when the analogue signal will be switched off.
Media commentators have expressed concern that the three years allowed by the government will not be long enough for all 7-million households to receive the boxes.
Of these households, about 5-million will need a government subsidy, which would cover up to 70% of the cost of a R700 box. Many of these households are in deep rural areas, worsening the logistical difficulty.
Makhafola defended the digital migration timelines, saying that the government had committed itself to “business unusual” in service delivery “so that the lives of our people should change for the better, sooner rather than later”.
The domestic electronics industry will have to increase capital investment to meet the expected demand, particularly for the set-top boxes.
Makhafola said the government would develop a strategy for the electronics industry involving both present and new players, which would create training and employment.
Digital TV offers better picture quality and more channels, but it also offers the possibility of interactive TV, which the government is particularly excited about.
This means the set-top box will be able to send information from the viewer back to the broadcaster, as well as receiving and downloading new software and content.
“This feature enables the full and interactive provision of e-government services such as accessing, filling in and sending back government forms without the viewer leaving home or the place where the TV set is located,” Makhafola said.
Plans to introduce e-government services through the set-top boxes are unique to SA.
Security features will prevent pirated boxes from being able to access domestic TV signals, he said.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Jocelyn Newmarch
Quelle/Source: Business Day, 15.08.2008
