Progress in finding a solution to getting the migration to digital terrestrial television moving forward again may be in sight following a second meeting between the department of communications and free-to-air broadcasters, including e.tv.
The department said in a statement on Tuesday that it had a “meaningful engagement” on Monday with the SABC, e.tv and other broadcasters to “review the options available to fast-tracking the implementation of digital terrestrial television” following the December high court victory for e.tv against communications minister Dina Pule.
E.tv took the minister to court after she issued an instruction that state-owned broadcasting signal distributor Sentech would manage the control system to be used in government-subsidised set-top boxes. Consumers will need these boxes to receive digital broadcasts after analogue transmissions are switched off — something which is supposed to happen by no later than mid-2015. Previously, e.tv and the SABC had been mandated to manage the system, which, among other things, will stop subsidised set-top boxes from being sold across the border.
The latest meeting follows one that took place on 14 January to consider the implications of the high court ruling, which found that Pule’s instruction was unlawful and that free-to-air broadcasters would manage the control system, subject to the authority of broadcasting regulator Icasa.
“All the parties agreed that … Icasa is a key player in creating certainty [around] … digital migration. Icasa committed itself to fulfilling all its responsibilities within its mandate,” the department said in its statement.
According to the department, broadcasters at the meeting submitted independent recommendations, which it will now review before deciding on a way forward. This comes despite the fact that Pule has decided to seek leave to appeal the high court judgment, a move that could set back digital migration by years if an out-of-court settlement with e.tv is not reached.
The department says it is “pleased with the level of engagement” at the latest meeting and that this demonstrates that all the parties attach a great deal of importance to ensuring there are no unnecessary further delays to digital migration.
An e.tv spokesman agrees that the meeting had involved “meaningful and constructive engagement”. In addition, the spokesman says e.tv submitted a proposal to the department which it thinks is “workable and fits in with the timelines the department has put in place for the tender process for set-top boxes”.
“We wait to hear from government,” the spokesman says. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media