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

      Fixing SA’s power crisis is not complex: it simply takes the will to do better

      12 August 2022

      Consortium makes unsolicited bid for state’s 40% stake in Telkom

      12 August 2022

      Actually, solar users should pay more to access the grid – here’s why

      12 August 2022

      Telkom says MTN talks remain on track

      12 August 2022

      Analysis | Rain muddies the waters with approach to Telkom

      11 August 2022
    • World

      Tencent woes mount, even after $560-billion selloff

      12 August 2022

      Huawei just booked its first sales rise since US blacklisting

      12 August 2022

      Apple remains upbeat about iPhone sales even as Android world suffers

      12 August 2022

      Ether at two-month high as upgrade to blockchain passes major test

      12 August 2022

      Gaming industry’s fortunes fade as pandemic ends

      11 August 2022
    • In-depth

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 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»In-depth»SA could be told to cut TV signals

    SA could be told to cut TV signals

    In-depth By Regardt van der Berg5 November 2014
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    William Stucke
    William Stucke

    South Africa’s digital terrestrial television (DTT) migration project is in a dire state and if the country fails to switch off its analogue signals after the mid-June 2015 cut-off date, it may be obliged to do so if analogue signals interfere with neighbouring countries using the spectrum.

    This is according to outgoing Icasa councillor William Stucke, who was speaking at the Discop 2014 broadcasting and content conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

    Stucke, who emphasised that he was speaking in his personal capacity, said the reason for the delay is that there is a “perception” that viewers necessarily need a set-top box in order to do the switch.

    “The set-top box is only for people who have old analogue TVs,” Stucke said. “In most countries, new TVs come with a built-in decoder called an integrated digital television, or IDTV. The difficulty South Africa faces is that it has not made up its mind, so the manufacturers do not know what they are supposed to do,” he said.

    Stucke said that unless a standard, “vanilla-flavoured” set-top box or decoder is made available by the 17 June 2015 deadline, the country won’t have any households able to watch digital TV.

    He warned that should South Africa continue to broadcast via analogue signals after that date, broadcasters may be obliged to switch off their signals as the spectrum could interfere with neighbouring countries using the old TV spectrum for mobile broadband networks. “We have already seen this earlier this year when Lesotho trialled LTE and it caused interference with e.tv in Ladybrand,” he said.

    Stucke said the situation is “fairly dire”.

    “We have eight months before the cut-off date and it took the UK 12 years to do its digital migration,” he said.

    “Once South Africa has completed its digital migration, the capacity available on the digital spectrum will allow for seven national networks and potentially giving us the capability to host 140 national digital channels, or 35 HD channels. It’s unlikely that all those channels will be used on a national basis, but there is more than enough space for every current broadcaster to have their own multiplex and there is space for new broadcasters to come in, be they pay or free to air.”

    Russell Southwood
    Russell Southwood

    Publisher and consultant Russell Southwood of Balancing Act Africa, who chaired the session at which Stucke made the remarks, said only five countries in Africa will meet the digital TV deadline, which they agreed to with the International Telecommunication Union.

    “You may think it is a good idea to simply cut off the analogue signal after the DTT deadline to incentivise uptake, but what we have seen in places like Tanzania and Rwanda, where they have already switched to DTT, is that after the switch, large numbers of the population did not have a DTT set-top box,” Southwood said.

    He said this meant that advertisers in those countries simply paid less for advertising as a result of the large drop in viewership numbers — as a result of poor digital penetration. “It damaged the TV industry there.”  — © 2014 NewsCentral Media

    Icasa Russell Southwood William Stucke
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleParkview goes open access for fibre
    Next Article Majuba restoration ‘proceeding well’

    Related Posts

    Analysis | Rain muddies the waters with approach to Telkom

    11 August 2022

    African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

    11 August 2022

    Willington Ngwepe to step down as Icasa CEO

    10 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Get your brand in front of TechCentral’s amazing audience

    12 August 2022

    Pricing Beyond CMYK: printers answer the FAQs

    11 August 2022

    How secure is your cloud?

    10 August 2022
    Opinion

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 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.