E.tv and M-Net plan to launch a trial of the upgraded European digital television standard, DVB-T2, in response the news that a pilot of the rival Brazilian and Japanese standard will soon get underway.

The local broadcasters’ pilot will take place in Soweto. State-owned signal distributor, Sentech, is establishing test transmission sites to pilot digital terrestrial television broadcasts based on Brazilian and Japanese standards.

The two broadcasters have been running trials across the country using an older version of the European standard since 2008, when SA’s cabinet ratified it as the standard SA would use for digital migration.

However, the department of communications dropped a bombshell on the broadcasting industry in April when it called for a review of the European standard and suggested that the Brazilian version of a Japanese standard could be an alternative.

Representatives from the European and Brazilian standards bodies have been aggressively lobbing SA government to adopt their standard. Sentech agreed to allow the Brazilian and Japanese representatives to run a pilot on one of the company’s transmitters.

M-Net and e.tv have slammed the department’s decision to review the choice of standard. They say it undermines the investments that the country’s broadcasters have already made in building networks based on the European standard.

The broadcasters estimate that a R250m investment will go to waste if the Brazilian and Japanese standard is now adopted. They also claim that government will need to cough up R4.6bn for decoder subsidies for poor homes if the Brazilian standard is adopted – R2bn more than it will need to spend if it adopted DVB-T.

Group CEO of e.tv Marcel Golding says: “The development of T2 [the European standard] shows that it is the right choice for South Africa.” He says that the broadcasters started laboratory testing of the upgraded standard in September.

Patricia Scholtemeyer, CEO of M-Net, says the signal is now on-air in Johannesburg and trial participants are being recruited in Soweto. “We are aiming for these trials to be as inclusive as possible. — Staff reporter, TechCentral