SA gov’t pumps R780m into decoders
Chris Forrester ©RapidTVNews
| 17-02-2009
South Africa’s government has committed to inject Rand 780 million (about US$80m) in to the country’s Universal Access Services Agency to subsidise set-top box decoders needed to convert analogue TV to digital.
Last year broadcasters started changing the old analogue television signals into digital. The benefits locally are seen as better quality images and fewer TV reception problems, as well as extra channel choice.
The government has promised to pay a total of Rand 2.45 billion subsidy to some 5 million households that cannot afford the new decoders. There are 3 million households on government social grants and a further 2 million households earning less than R3 200 a month. Each decoder is expected to cost an estimated R700 ($70). This means the government will pay up to 70%, while households will be expected to raise the rest.
The government aims to switch off the analogue system in November 2011, however there have been concerns that the deadline might not be achieved. The South Africa Bureau of Standards has yet to finalise the technology specifications for the decoders.
e.tv, M-Net and the SABC are testing the digital technology before the service is launched commercially in the second half of this year.
Meanwhile, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) is finalising the digital migration regulations that could result in the allocation of more TV channels for broadcasters, one of which the government plans to set aside for broadband services.
© Rapid TV News 2009
Add comment
