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

      Musk tells Twitter: prove your bot claims, or the deal is off

      17 May 2022

      300% growth for Pick n Pay asap!

      17 May 2022

      Stablecoins wend wobbly way into the unknown

      17 May 2022

      Vodacom goes big on capex

      16 May 2022

      Load shedding escalated to stage 4

      16 May 2022
    • World

      Intel shareholders reject pay packages for top executives

      17 May 2022

      Musk hints at reduced offer price for Twitter

      17 May 2022

      SpaceX gets $125-billion valuation in private placement

      17 May 2022

      Crypto’s wild week offers a much-needed warning

      16 May 2022

      Terra’s $45-billion face plant creates a crowd of crypto losers

      16 May 2022
    • In-depth

      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

      Musk wants free speech on Twitter but spent years silencing critics

      21 April 2022

      Musk’s board-seat tweet needed an edit button

      11 April 2022
    • Podcasts

      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

      Decentralised finance, the ‘end of banks’ – and what comes next

      25 March 2022

      Maxtec and BigFix: helping stop cyberattackers in their tracks

      18 March 2022
    • Opinion

      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

      Minister Ntshavheni is at risk of tripping up

      24 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
      • 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»Set-top box control stays, says Cwele

    Set-top box control stays, says Cwele

    In-depth By Duncan McLeod1 September 2014
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Siyabonga Cwele
    Siyabonga Cwele

    Government will still require the inclusion of a control system based on encryption in the set-top boxes South Africans will need to watch digital terrestrial television.

    That’s the word from telecommunications and postal services minister Siyabonga Cwele, who was speaking to TechCentral in a wide-ranging interview in Port Elizabeth on Monday.

    Cwele says it’s government’s “hope” that no one impedes the already long-delayed process further by taking the final policy on digital migration on review in the courts.

    Though the minister won’t say when the final policy will be presented to cabinet for approval, he indicates urgency is needed given the looming mid-2015 deadline agreed to with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to complete migration.

    Last December, after extensive mediation efforts with warring industry players, former communications minister Yunus Carrim proposed a compromise policy to cabinet in terms of which a control system would be included in set-top boxes, but broadcasters wanting to use it to provide subscription services would have to pay for the privilege.

    MultiChoice is vehemently opposed to set-top box control in free-to-air terrestrial television, saying including encryption in government-subsidised boxes would amount to an unfair subsidy being handed to prospective pay-TV rivals.

    E.tv, on the other hand, is a proponent of set-top box control, saying that it’s necessary, among other things, to ensure free-to-air broadcasters can compete effectively with pay-TV rivals by securing access to the latest content from Hollywood studios and elsewhere.

    The policy stance adopted in December is the correct one, Cwele tells TechCentral. “It’s correct not to compel anyone to use the [control] system, but it’s there to allow us to achieve key objectives we have set ourselves as government.”

    He says he does not intend attempting further mediation between e.tv and MultiChoice. “I don’t have any intention to mediate between these private companies, because all that was done before. We do listen to people. I have met all of these companies. I have listened to their presentations and challenges. Those are the things the government is considering in finalising the policy.”

    Digital migration must “stimulate the electronic manufacturing industry in South Africa”, Cwele adds.

    “We do have the manufacturing capacity as South Africa and we can assist in exporting this [technology] to any other country that needs it in Africa. It’s part of the National Development Plan — we have to increase job creation and [grow] the industries that support the knowledge economy.”

    He says the “real challenge” facing broadcasters can also be resolved by the policy. “The policy is very clear: if you utilise these gadgets to launch your commercial product — and remember this is a free-to-air product — for subscription services, then you must pay. We have the regulator, which will ensure you pay the appropriate price. There is no free ride, in a sense.”
    Cwele says he hopes a legal challenge will be avoided.

    “We honestly hope that once government has finalised the policy, South Africans and their companies will allow us to implement it because we are late [with migration],” he says. “If any citizen or any company from anywhere in the world wants to take us to court, much as we will not encourage that, people do have rights.”

    He adds that government is “quite confident we have followed the right path and we are not interfering in the internal business processes of companies.”

    It’s crucial that the process be finalised so that cellular operators and others can be given access to radio frequency spectrum that will be freed up when broadcasters move to digital technology.

    Cwele says that once cabinet has finalised and gazetted the final digital migration policy, then progress can happen quickly. But he declines to say when this will happen. “I don’t want to comment on government committee processes. As soon as this is completed, we’ll come back to you.”  — (c) 2014 NewsCentral Media

    e.tv MultiChoice Siyabonga Cwele Yunus Carrim
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleSA health care gets technology boost
    Next Article Telkom to change its broadband model

    Related Posts

    SuperSport may bid alongside Google, Amazon for IPL rights

    12 May 2022

    The standard model of particle physics may be broken

    11 May 2022

    Icasa to ‘reboot’ long-running probe into pay TV

    9 May 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Eye on the future: an interview with PureSoftware CTO Tushar Bhatkar

    17 May 2022

    Accelerating test automation

    16 May 2022

    Maxtec provides partners with a seamless credit solution

    13 May 2022
    Opinion

    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

    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.