Muthambi makes waves about digital migration

Minister of Communications Faith Muthambi will lead a public awareness campaign to inform community members about broadcasting digital migration in the North West province this weekend.

South Africa is currently in process of television broadcast migration from an analogue format to digital terrestrial television and viewers will have to acquire set-top boxes to watch TV.

The public awareness campaign is to be held at Ramatlabama Village, on the border of South Africa and Botswana, tomorrow at 9am at Ramatlabama Six Hundred Sports Ground in Mahikeng.

The department of communications said the total projected qualifying households with functional TVs in the province was 398 231.

Through a programme called Setsokotsane (Tornado), the North West provincial government has been supporting broadcasting digital migration and encouraging people on public platforms to register for the set-top-boxes.

Muthambi said the department of communications has been working closely with the provincial leadership to drive awareness of broadcasting digital migration.

“We have been prioritising towns and villages that are close to national borders where there could be potential television signal interference.

“Our goal is to ensure that there is zero signal interference,” Muthambi said.

In 2015, Muthambi visited her Botswana counterpart, Minister of Communications Tshenolo Mabeo, in Gaborone, to discuss issues of potential frequency spectrum interference and how to mitigate the risk. – ANA