Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Blue Label Telecoms to change its name as restructuring gathers pace

      11 July 2025

      Get your ID delivered like pizza – home affairs’ latest digital shake-up

      11 July 2025

      EFF vows to stop Starlink from launching in South Africa

      11 July 2025

      Apple plans product blitz to reignite growth

      11 July 2025

      Nissan doubles down on South Africa despite plant uncertainty

      11 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » News » Cellphones crucial to digital radio in SA

    Cellphones crucial to digital radio in SA

    By Duncan McLeod23 January 2017
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Widespread penetration of cellular phones with integrated digital radio receivers is crucial if the technology is going to take off in South Africa.

    That’s the view of Primedia Broadcasting CEO Omar Essack, who was speaking to TechCentral in a special podcast recorded on Monday with broadcasting industry experts on digital radio, looking specifically at the country’s digital audio broadcasting (DAB+) and Digital Radio Mondiale trials. Primedia owns radio stations such as 702 and 947 in Gauteng and Cape Talk and KFM in the Western Cape.

    Essack said digital radio technologies have the potential to transform the radio landscape in South Africa, but only once receivers are in the hands of the masses.

    For one thing, he said, it will allow greater diversity of the airwaves and more choice for consumers. For example, FM stations tend to broadcast “generic” music content in the hope of attracting as a big an audience as possible.

    “We try and find a middle ground that tries to get us as many audiences as possible, and therefore rock lovers or reggae lovers, or lovers of certain types of music, tend to have to look elsewhere for this type of content,” he said.

    “They won’t find it on our services, because there just aren’t enough of them. Because of the scarcity of spectrum, we will always go to the lowest common denominator: what is the format or the styles of music that are most commonly going to be enjoyed or appreciated?”

    Although digital services promise to solve this problem — at least partially — Essack is concerned about take-up among consumers.

    “When we look at the countries where DAB currently exists, they’re all massive middle-class countries… The reason Norway can afford to switch off [FM broadcasts] is they have a small population of very wealthy people,” he said.

    “But we need the technology to serve all people, just like we’re doing in the transition to digital terrestrial television, where there’s a subsidy for people who can’t afford it,” Essack continued.

    “There’s no use bringing a technology into this country if we can’t have receivers available at a cost that people can afford. People won’t even buy [traditional] receivers. It’s much better … if we can get integrated DAB+ into mobile phones.”

    He said getting the technology into cars is “not enough”, as this represents only a fraction of the overall market.

    “[We must be] cognisant of our huge disparities in economic wealth. If we can get Android phones into the country that are DAB+-ready — DRM-ready, even — then we have a proposition.

    Omar Essack

    “For a commercial broadcaster [like Primedia], or for the SABC, it’s about access. If everybody has access, then [digital radio] is a no-brainer for us.”

    And getting digital receivers into cellphones is what’s needed to ensure this happens,” he said.

    In 2016, LG Electronics introduced a smartphone with an integrated DAB+ receiver, and it is available through local operators. However, other manufacturers have been slow to include DAB+ in their products.

    For much more about digital radio in South Africa, listen to TechCentral’s special podcast. In addition to Essack, the panel of experts is made up of Southern African Digital Broadcasting Association (Sadiba) chairman Lynn Mansfield; South African DRM consortium member and adviser to Radio Pulpit Chris Joubert; and chairman of the Sadiba/National Association of Broadcasters Digital Working Group (focused on DAB+) Dave Cherry.  — © 2017 NewsCentral Media



    Chris Joubert Dave Cherry Lynn Mansfield Omar Essack Primedia Broadcasting Sadiba
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleSA’s mobile industry is under threat
    Next Article The future of radio in South Africa [podcast]

    Related Posts

    ‘Nothing is happening’: digital radio roll-out stalls

    2 February 2024

    100 years of radio in South Africa – and still going strong

    18 December 2023

    Minister paves way for digital radio in South Africa

    14 July 2020
    Company News

    $125-trillion traded: Binance redefines global finance in just eight years

    11 July 2025

    NEC XON welcomes HPE acquisition of Juniper Networks

    11 July 2025

    LTE Cat 1 vs Cat 1 bis – what’s the difference?

    11 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.