News - Empty coffers, firm deadline threaten to stall digital migration

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Empty coffers, firm deadline threaten to stall digital migration

Source By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba IT in government editor
3 weeks ago

South Africa’s analogue switch-off deadline could be deferred once again, as otherwise hundreds of thousands of householdsare likely to be without access to TV services as at 31 December.Should the deadline be missed or postponed, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), which is the project lead, will face the dilemma of sourcing further funding for dual-illumination, which has cost R1.2 billion since 2014.This was revealed during communications minister Solly Malatsi’s briefing before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT).Yesterday, the DCDT and its entities updated the oversight body on the country’s analogue switch-off, as the deadline looms.

As part of its broadcasting digital migration (BDM) programme, government last year gazetted a phased approach to switch-off analogue broadcasting signals. This stated 31 July 2023 as the date to switch-off all analogue broadcasting services above 694MHz, with 31 December 2024 as the end of the dual-illumination period and switch-off of the remaining analogue services below 694MHz. However, during his briefing, Malatsi indicated many households are still to migrate to the digital transmission signal, and consultation with stakeholders and various role-players is still ongoing.

Striking a balance

Malatsi said it’s clear there will be “serious” difficulties to proceed with the set deadline, as hundreds of thousands of South African households are still dependent on analogue TV and there is the issue of lack of government funding for dual-illumination.Dual-illumination, or simulcast, is the interim period in which both analogue and digital signals are allowed to be transmitted at the same time before the analogue signal is switched off. At the end of the dual-illumination period, all analogue television broadcasts will cease.“Given the fact that there hasn’t been a financial commitment for this [dual-illumination]…if we were to say the date should be extended, we would then need to get into a conversation about where to find the funding to cover the cost,” Malatsi told the committee.

“Sentech has already indicated it is under financial strain to continue with covering this [dual-illumination]. In terms of the Universal Access Fund (USAF), which has previously covered this, there hasn’t been any provision made for the next financial year.“It comes down to two choices,” he explained. The first is that should the analogue switch-off proceed, hundreds of thousands of members of the public will be left behind. “This on its own has several implications and consequences, even for the broadcasters.“Secondly, should we say the reasonable thing for this to proceed would be an extension of the date, then we’ll need to get into a conversation about securing the funding for dual-illumination and how long the extension will be so that we don’t come back again to have the same conversation at a later stage.”He added that at a ministerial level, there has been correspondence from the broadcasters; namely, the SABC, eMedia and National Association of Broadcasters, as well as the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA).“ICASA has written to the ministry expressing their concerns with the looming deadline and the implications it can have. To that end, we have held meetings with the broadcasters to listen to the concerns and progress in terms of facilitating the digital migration.“We will have another session with the broadcasters later this week, as we get closer to finalising the consultative process about how to best proceed with the deadline.” The BDM programme has long bedevilled government. After missing the International Telecommunication Union-mandated June 2015 deadline, the communications ministry made numerous attempts to conclude the country’s migration.However, controversies bogged down the process, including litigation, switch-up of set-top box (STB) standards, leadership changes within the ministry, disgruntled STB installers, pressure from broadcasters and low registration turnout.Migrating to digital TV formed an important part of making available the sub-1GB

radio

frequency spectrum bands, which were licensed during ICASA’s “historic” spectrum auction in March 2022.During his presentation to the committee, Tinyiko Ngobeni, deputy director-general for ICT infrastructure development and support at the DCDT, revealed government has, since 2014, spent R1.23 billion to cover dual-illumination.However, in the current financial year, there is no allocation for it, he added. “It took engagement between USAASA, the department and National Treasury to obtain approval for reprioritisation of R140 million from USAF to cover the dual-illumination shortfall for 2024/25.“However, going forward there is no allocation for dual-illumination. In terms of estimations, dual-illumination requires R140 million per annum – R35 million per quarter.”Ngobeni told the portfolio committee that as part of the phased approach, it was required that all the analogue transmitters that affected the spectrum earmarked for the auction be switched-off first.After the July 2023 deadline, there were 195 analogue transmitters required to be switched-off by 31 December, which is the process under way, according to Ngobeni.Only 21 out of the 195 remaining transmitters were switched-off by 31 October, he said. “This means we have 174 analogue transmitters to switch-off by the end of December.”Ngobeni also pointed out that few people came forward to register for the government-subsidised STBs, despite the various public awareness campaigns.Between August 2023 and October 2024, only 42 563 STB registrations were recorded through the online and manual processes. Based on this, 1.78 million beneficiary households have been recorded since the inception of the BDM programme.