Big Switch not so big
ANALOGUE CUT: GOVT NOT READY FOR WIDE ROLL-OUT OF DIGITAL DECODERS
Get ready for ‘signal load shedding’, DA warns.
Thousands of homes will be cut off from the television grid as the country switches from analogue to digital broadcast signal next month. But the Democratic Alliance (DA) claimed systems were not as ready to implement its digital migration policy as this recent announcement suggested.
The government missed its deadlines for the big switch, as well as the selling of broadcasting spectrum which were set for last year.
On Friday, the department of communications and digital technologies took to social media to announce that applications for a government-subsidised decoder were still open and available at post offices.
Applicants could also contact Sentech via WhatsApp on 072196-8368 or via the call centre on 0860-736-832 to report challenges with signal or channel issues. To qualify, an applicant had to have an income of R3 200 or less.
According to the presentation given by the department in parliament last week, the roll-out of digital decoders (set top-boxes) had yet to be complete. In the Free State, 6 300 set-top boxes had been distributed and installed while the process was set to begin in the Northern Cape and the North West Province this month.
The government was pushing for an “aggressive” delivery plan and timelines were being continually revised to realise an early analogue “switch off” and the release of radio spectrum.
Any household that doesn’t have a set-top box or TV configured to receive digital signal when the analogue switch off happens in their area would effectively be cut off from access to broadcast media, according to DA communications spokesperson Zakhele Mbhele, calling the phenomenon “signal load shedding”.
“That is why it’s crucial for the department and relevant entities to ensure that every indigent household receives a set-top box or at least a subsidy to buy one themselves, so that no household falls through the gaps.”
Mbhele’s proposal, which was accepted, was for the department to make public its time-bound project plan, which showed the targets for households still to be serviced in every province and municipality, with an indication of any budget shortfall.
“We will then be able to monitor progress on a regular basis against those time-bound targets and, if the department indicates that there aren’t sufficient resources, the parliamentary committee could look at ways to engage with National Treasury on options and possibilities for providing top-up funding.”
This was in the backdrop of the anticipated auctioning of frequency spectrum which was set to begin as well next month – an important step towards freeing the market for telecommunications service providers, which would eventually allow for cheaper costs for internet access and airtime.
Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Adams said the deadlines were missed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The auctioning of spectrum would now begin at the end of March, she said.
Meanwhile, telecommunications provider Telkom was taking communications regulator Icasa to court over the selling of spectrum, citing provisions in the authority’s invitations to apply, saying it would only help further the dominance of competitors Vodacom and MTN in the market.
Telkom filed papers in December seeking to interdict the planned auctioning.
“We will allow the courts to make their decision but, of course, as a policymaker we are directly affected,” said Ndabeni-Adams.
The plan is aimed at rolling out digital terrestrial television coverage to cover 84% of the South African population.
Areas that may be deemed difficult or uneconomical to reach are to be covered by free-to-air and direct-to-home (DTH) satellite, using the second-generation digital video broadcasting technology.
Deadlines were missed due to Covid-19