TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      CSIR develops app to help kids learn to read

      20 May 2022

      Prosus to sell Russia’s Avito

      20 May 2022

      Shock as Mustek CEO David Kan dies

      19 May 2022

      Sabotage at Eskom’s Tutuka plant

      19 May 2022

      Reserve Bank eyes digital rand as it readies crypto regulations

      19 May 2022
    • World

      Chip giant ASML places big bets on a tiny future

      20 May 2022

      Musk moves to soothe investor fears over Tesla

      20 May 2022

      Apple is almost ready to show off its mixed-reality headset

      20 May 2022

      TikTok plans big push into gaming

      19 May 2022

      Musk says he will vote Republican, calls ESG a ‘scam’

      19 May 2022
    • In-depth

      Elon Musk is becoming like Henry Ford – and that’s not a good thing

      17 May 2022

      Stablecoins wend wobbly way into the unknown

      17 May 2022

      The standard model of particle physics may be broken

      11 May 2022

      Meet Jared Birchall, Elon Musk’s personal ‘fixer’

      6 May 2022

      Twitter takeover was brash and fast, with Musk calling the shots

      26 April 2022
    • Podcasts

      Dean Broadley on why product design at Yoco is an evolving art

      18 May 2022

      Everything PC S01E02 – ‘AMD: Ryzen from the dead – part 2’

      17 May 2022

      Everything PC S01E01 – ‘AMD: Ryzen from the dead – part 1’

      10 May 2022

      Llew Claasen on how exchange controls are harming SA tech start-ups

      2 May 2022

      The inside scoop on OVEX’s big expansion plans

      20 April 2022
    • Opinion

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022

      How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

      8 April 2022

      Cash is still king … but not for much longer

      31 March 2022

      Icasa on the role of TV white spaces and dynamic spectrum access

      31 March 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»News»Digital TV move sows confusion

    Digital TV move sows confusion

    News By Editor6 December 2013
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Yunus Carrim
    Yunus Carrim

    Cabinet’s decision, led by communications minister Yunus Carrim, to mandate the use of an encryption system based on a control system in the set-top boxes that government will subsidise for poorer households has drawn both warm praise and stinging criticism from industry players.

    The SABC and MultiChoice are both understood to be fuming at the decision, which they believe has largely gone in favour of rival e.tv. MultiChoice is not commenting, an SABC spokesman could not be reached for comment and e.tv didn’t repond to an e-mail seeking comment.

    It’s understood that Carrim may have encountered pressure from some of his colleagues in cabinet who wanted the use of the control system — often also referred to as conditional access — in an effort to support local manufacturers.

    E.tv has been lobbying strongly for a control system based on conditional access, while MultiChoice and the SABC are strongly opposed to the idea.

    MultiChoice has argued that including a control system would result in taxpayers funding the cost of deploying a set-top box that e.tv and other broadcasters can then use to launch pay-television services. E.tv has denied it has any plans to offer pay services on the free-to-air boxes.

    Government spokesman Phumla Williams said in a statement on Thursday that cabinet had decided that the use of a control system should not be mandatory, though it’s unclear what that means and whether, as in many other countries, South Africans will be able to purchase a simple digital converter to access digital broadcasts.

    Carrim had been scheduled to hold a press conference on Friday morning to discuss the issues in greater detail, but this was postponed at the last minute after news broke of the death of former president Nelson Mandela.

    It appears from government’s statement, however, that the department of communications is intent on establishing some sort of conditional access authority, possibly asking state-owned broadcasting signal distributor Sentech to manage it.

    Williams said that cabinet had decided to manage the system to avoid subscription broadcasters unfairly benefiting from the subsidised boxes.

    Government’s investment in the system would be recovered from subscription broadcasters that choose to use it.

    She said government wanted the control system to protect its investment in the subsidised boxes and for “future use by broadcasters who might not want to use it now”.

    But in managing the system, government could be in breach of a court order, according to Vijay Panday, chairman of the electronics manufacturing division of the National Association of Manufacturers in Electronic Components (Namec).

    A high court judgment, in the recent case between e.tv and former communications minister Dina Pule, found that free-to-air broadcasters — and not government — were entitled to manage the conditional access system. The court found that the minister had “no legal power to prescribe or make binding decisions relating to set-top box control”.

    “We respect cabinet’s decision, but we need to understand how a judicial ruling that says the minister has no right to make a call on this matter has been ignored,” Panday says. “Is he in violation of a court order?”

    He says government’s latest position has created an enormous amount of uncertainty. “It’s very unclear where the minister is coming from. He’s not taking a firm stance on this.”

    Panday says cabinet’s decision goes against black economic empowerment and will undermine small, black-owned set-top box manufacturers. “You will kill previously disadvantaged manufacturers because of the costs involved.”

    If the state wants to stop subsidised set-top boxes from being sold across the border, it does not have to implement a control system or conditional access, Pandey adds. Rather it can use a software fix in each box to get the job done at much lower cost. “There is no need for a control system to protect government’s investment and to stop boxes from walking out of South Africa.”

    However, the South African Communications Forum has an opposing view to Namec’s. Its executive director, Loren Braithwaite Kabosha, says the inclusion of a control system will promote industrial development, job creation, access to information and black empowerment.

    “We appreciate that government had to seriously weigh numerous factors and criteria when considering whether or not to include a control system in the subsidised set-top box. In the end, we believe government chose a balanced approach that takes into account the interests of all parties, including government itself, which will be paying for the subsidised boxes,” Kabosha says in a statement.  — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media

    Dina Pule e.tv Loren Braithwaite-Kabosha MultiChoice Namec SABC SACF Sentech Vijay Panday Yunus Carrim
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleIcasa warns broadcasters over Mandela funeral
    Next Article Caxton deal ends years of squabbling

    Related Posts

    CSIR develops app to help kids learn to read

    20 May 2022

    Prosus to sell Russia’s Avito

    20 May 2022

    Shock as Mustek CEO David Kan dies

    19 May 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Fast-rising fintech Bankingly closes $11m investment round

    20 May 2022

    Creating an effective employer value proposition for the new era of work

    20 May 2022

    Why fibre is the new utility – and what it means for South Africa

    19 May 2022
    Opinion

    A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

    19 May 2022

    From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

    19 April 2022

    How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

    8 April 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

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

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

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