R7bn Digital TV Shortfall

SA will turn on digital television towards the end of next month in the remote Karoo area, but analogue will only be turned off in the middle of 2015.

However, the Department of Communications (DOC) has a R7 billion shortfall to fund before migration can be completed. The lack of funding impacts the subsidy of set-top boxes and Sentech's dual-illumination period.

SA is migrating to digital TV using the European DVB-T2 standard, which is more efficient than its predecessor and will improve the viewing experience and free spectrum for more broadband services.

Although the turn on date is little more than a month away, there are still several things needed before launch, including approval of the amended broadcasting digital migration (BDM) policy, amended migration regulations by ICASA, and new content.

SA had previously agreed, along with other Southern African Development Community (SADC) members, to migrate by the end of next year. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) will cease protection of analogue signal in mid-2015.

Shortfall

The DOC's deputy DG of ICT policy development, Themba Phiri, told a recent Labour and Public Enterprises Parliamentary Committee meeting it was very clear the country could not meet the SADC deadline, as there was not enough time to complete the work and there were funding constraints.

Key digital TV milestones

* In January 2011, DVB-T2 is selected as the migration strategy.
* The set-top box manufacturing sector development strategy and scheme for ownership subsidy (SOS) framework were approved by Cabinet in March 2012.
* The DOC has finalised and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Trade and industry and the South African Bureau of Standards to establish a STB conformance authority.
* The DOC has signed a memorandum with the Post Office as a possible SOS logistics partner.
* The request for proposals for subsidised decoders has been issued.

However, Phiri said SA would meet the ITU timeframe, as it still had a full three years to wrap up the project. Digital TV will free up spectrum and allow 16 channels per frequency, with better picture quality, he added.

SA's initial self-imposed digital migration timelines were November 2008 to November 2011, which proved to be unrealistic, said Phiri. SA's current commitment, as a member of the ITU, was to complete its digital migration by 17 June 2015, he noted.

Phiri said the DOC needed a total of R7 billion more in funding to address a shortfall to rollout digital TV.

Some R940 million was ring-fenced at the Universal Service and Access Agency SA (USAASA) for this financial year to subsidise decoders. Cabinet set aside R2.45 billion several years ago to subsidise 70% of boxes for about five million houses.

Phiri said USAASA had challenges, but would be able to play its part with the DOC's support. The DOC is filling vacant executive positions in USAASA, which will regain its full functionality within the next few months.

The DOC needs subsidies to the tune of R2.635 billion, over and above the R940 million, said Phiri. Set-top boxes are now expected to cost around R400, instead of the previously estimated R700, he added.

The overall shortfall, including the SABC's technology upgrade and Sentech's dual-illumination requirements, was R7 billion, said Phiri.

Staggered approach

Sentech chairman Thabo Mongake said that, due to the outstanding issues, such as amended regulations, a staggered provincial rollout would be implemented. So far, 60% of the population has DVB-T2 coverage and the aim is to reach 80% by next March.

The state signal provider has been transmitting analogue and digital signals since November 2008 and will continue to do so until switch off. It needed an additional R213 million in 2014 and 2015 for dual illumination, said Mongake.Sentech's rollout would include eight planned stations for Limpopo, 11 for the Free State, 10 for Mpumalanga, 21 for KwaZulu-Natal, six for the Western Cape, two for the North West, and 10 for the Eastern Cape.

Turn on

DOC technical adviser Roy Kruger said digital TV would be lit up on 26 and 27 September. He said the department had targeted the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) area, in the Northern Cape.

The DOC selected the region to prove DVB-T would work and that frequencies would not interfere with the telescope. The SKA radio telescope project will be shared between SA, Australia and New Zealand.

Kruger says the launch will comprise satellite or direct-to-home around the SKA to prove the SKA signals would not interfere with broadcast signals, and DTT transmission to a township near Kimberley, which currently had the only DTT transmitter in the Northern Cape.

Thousands of jobs

Kruger says the DOC was mandated to create several categories of jobs along with migration. About 23 500 employment opportunities will be opened in total.

In the manufacturing sector, between 800 and 1 000 opportunities will be created, which include more jobs at existing factories and new jobs at new start-up small and medium companies, said Kruger.

Installation and maintenance of decoders would initially establish 3 500 jobs for new installers, said Kruger. There was a list of names with qualifications, which towns they were located, and plans for the training were in place, he said.

In addition, call centres would create a minimum of 2 000 to 3 000 jobs, noted Kruger. The DOC aims to have about 11.4 million houses on the new network, which will require about 6 000 call centre operators. However, Phiri says funding is not guaranteed.

The biggest job creation sector in the project would be in the content sector. Phiri said between eTV and the SABC, there would be around 20 new channels, requiring “tons” of content and creating between 10 000 to 15 000 openings.

 - http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57901:r7bn-digital-tv-shortfall

Launch of Set-Top Box Standard Brings Digital TV Closer

As South Africa gets ready to migrate to digital TV in September, authorities have unveiled standards for the manufacture of decoders that will provide digital signal for old TV sets. 

On Wednesday, 6 June, the Department of Communications together with the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) launched the Set-Top Box decoder standard (SANS862:2012) for free-to-air digital terrestrial television (DTT) at the inaugural ICT Indaba that took place in Cape Town.

The Set Top Box is a receiver that will decode the digital signal to enable the channels to be displayed on your analogue television set. This Set Top Box will plug directly into your TV set.Migrating to digital TV, will give you a brighter, sharper picture and much better sound quality; like moving from the old video cassette to a DVD.

All television sets will be compatible with the STB either via the RF/Aerial input in older television sets, or via the RCA/audio and video inputs in modern television sets.The STB decoder operates in conjunction with an analogue television receiver minimising additional expense for the public whilst providing good quality video and sound.

Significantly, the announcement means that South Africa will now comply with the 2006 resolution of the Regional Radio Communication Conference (RRC-06) hosted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), as all countries in Europe, Africa, Middle East and the Islamic Republic of Iran need to migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting services by 2015. 

Source: http://www.services.gov.za/services/content/Home

QEC Prepares for STB Rollout

QEC (Pty) Ltd has positioned itself to manufacture set-top boxes (STBs) locally. Established in 1994, QEC has spent several years growing and developing a successful electronics manufacturing company in South Africa.

Early in 2012, QEC's founder brought Lereko Investments on board. Lereko is a black-owned, black-led investments company operating in South Africa.  The founding partners, the late Eric Molobi, Valli Moosa and Dr Popo Molefe had a vision of becoming effectively involved in broad-based empowerment in South African business. Shortly after its inception, Dr Lulu Gwagwa joined Lereko as Chief Operating Officer.

Another profound shareholder in QEC is Anitha Soni. Anitha Soni was awarded the much-coveted and prestigious "2002 Business Women of the Year BBQ Award". The BBQ Awards are a benchmark in the progress of empowered South Africa. It recognises achievements in Black Business and honours excellence in 12 Categories, amongst which is Businesswoman of the Year.

In April this year, QEC responded to the Department of Communications' (DoC's) call for information for the local manufacturing of DTT STB. QEC is excited for the road ahead as South Africa prepares for the migration of analogue broadcasting to digital terrestrial television (DTT).

Set-top boxes to Get Internet Access

Communications minister Dina Pule said on Wednesday that the set-top boxes that will be subsidised for poorer households will get a “return path” to provide basic Internet access. She made the announcement at the department of communications’ ICT Indaba in Cape Town.

South Africans will be required to purchase set-top boxes as the country migrates from analogue to digital terrestrial television.

Government has said it will subsidise 5m of the boxes as part of the migration process. Set-top boxes convert digital signals into analogue ones so that legacy equipment without a digital receiver can still be used.

The SA Communications Forum (SACF), an industry lobby group that has been pushing hard for a return path to be included in the boxes, praised the minister’s decision, saying it would provide Internet access “for the masses of economically marginalised South Africans”.

The SACF contends that the inclusion of Internet access in the set-top box specification requirements is “the best opportunity to bridge the digital divide” and says it wishes to “congratulate the minister for her strong leadership in grasping this once-off opportunity”.

“This decision means that SA, which had been lagging behind in Internet penetration on the continent, will move swiftly ahead in its goals to achieve universal access and ICT competitiveness.”

Pule has not yet provided a reason for her decision or elaborated on the technical specifications of the return path and what impact it might have on the digital migration process.  — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media

Source: http://www.techcentral.co.za/set-top-boxes-to-get-interet-access/32487/

Testing Lab for Set Top Boxes

The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) has announced it will set up a laboratory to test Set-Top-Boxes before they go to market. Speaking at the ICT Indaba in Cape Town, SABS chairperson, Bahle Sibisi, announced the lab would be running by October.

Sibisi noted that the lab would enable SME’s to participate effectively in the manufacturing process. Earlier this year, the SABS released draft manufacturing standards for public comment. The SABS has now released final standards as SA works towards migrating from analogue to digital broadcasting.

Sibisi noted that the published standards was chosen as it allows for a broad base of people to access services. SA has adopted the DVB-T2 standard and has set a September 2012 deadline to kick-off Digital Terrestrial Television services.

Source: http://saitnews.co.za/e-government/testing-boxes-2/

Set-Top-Box RFP in Two Weeks

The Department of Communications says it will issue a Request For Proposal (RFP) for Set-Top-Box manufacturing in two weeks.

Speaking at a media briefing at the ICT Indaba in Cape Town, Communications DG, Rosey Sekese said the manufacturing process would kick-off once all processes were concluded.

Sekese noted that while the DOC would subsidise STBs for poorer households – the final cost of the STBS would be determined by market competition and the RFP process.

Earlier this year, the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) released draft manufacturing standards for STBs for public comment. The standards body has now released final standards for the digital migration process.

SA has adopted the DVB-T2 standard and has a September deadline for the availability of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) services.

Source http://saitnews.co.za/e-government/weeks/

Statement on the launch of the SABS Set Top Box standard at the ICT Indaba in Cape Town.

06 June 2012

Thank you for your presence.

I'd like to express my appreciation of the relationship we have. We view the media as one of our key stakeholders in this government's efforts to transform our society.

Indeed, we shall stop at nothing in ensuring that our citizens' lives are progressively improved.

We have to feed off this incredible energy generated by the conversations we have had over the past two and a half days. All the building blocks that we need to build a prosperous society are in place.

The world and our continent, in particular, have humbled us with their willingness to share their experiences and best practices. We have also shared our learnings from the formative years of our democracy.

This conference has strengthened our resolve to investing in developmental infrastructure. This infrastructure has to be delivered in partnership with the private sector.

Universal access to infrastructure will enable governments to deliver e-services of high quality such as e-health and e-education to rural areas.

The two Inter-Ministerial meetings have highlighted the need to address education challenges from primary schools up to tertiary levels. These are the areas that we’ll focus our energies on in relation to e-learning.

This conference also highlighted the need to harness Africa's human capital in technology to fast track socio-economic development and economic growth. An investment in developing people will result in greater innovation. We have to find our own solutions to the developmental challenges we face. Of course, we have chosen to do so in partnership with Africa and the rest of the world.

This is the context through which we should view the launch of the Set Top Box standard today. It is one of the milestones that we have reached in the broadcasting digital migration process.

Thank Chairperson of the SA Bureau of Standards, Bahle Sibisi and your team.

The standard is the latest demonstration of this government’s commitment to ensuring that the digital migration process starts later this year.

The launch of the standard also helps us to answer the question that many people have been asking about our ability to meet the targets for delivering Digital Terrestrial Television. My answer is that we are on track.

Through this standard, we are inviting local manufactures to be innovative, within this framework, to deliver decoders that will improve the television experience of our citizens.

We have always insisted that we want our products to compete with the best in the world.

Other milestones of this conference include the initiation of the process to close the gap between policy development and input from stakeholders, particularly SMEs and business.

At the plenary and at the Inter Ministerial meetings, we have identified the regulatory bottlenecks that we need to eliminate if we are to extract the maximum benefit from the use of technology to improve the quality of life of poor people in the developing world.

Harmonising ICT policies and regulations in the continent is the first step in encouraging innovation that will boost the economy and benefit the poor and SMEs.

As we march towards achieving a prosperous information society and knowledge economy, we need to be mindful of the challenges that could derail our efforts.

Two such challenges are cybercrime and the high cost to communication in the continent.

Access to broadband is meaningless if it is not affordable to the majority who are willing to use it.

We are concerned about the high cost to communication, in particularly international roaming costs.

We need to find ways to lower these costs because they can hinder development.

Industries such as Business Process Outsourcing can flourish in the continent if we work hard to create an enabling market environment for it.

Tomorrow, we shall issue a Statement of Intent from the ministers who have gathered here over the past two and a half days.

That statement will elaborate on the points I have made and all other areas we have discussed.

Thank you. 

Request For Information: DTT Set-Top Box (STB) Production by Local Manufacturing Companies

The Department of Communications has published a list of all the companies who submitted proposals for Request For Information: DTT Set-Top Box (STB) Production by local manufacturing companies.

A total of 36 bids have been received in the Department of Communications’ (DoC's) quest to source a company for the local manufacturing of set-top boxes (STBs) required for South Africa’s digital migration.

This followed the DoC’s request for information from local manufacturing companies for digital terrestrial television (DTT) STB production.

Potential manufacturers had until April 30 to respond.

The government aimed to subsidise STBs for about five-million households that were unable to afford STBs. This was estimated to cost about R2.45-billion.

Subsidisation qualification criteria were currently being finalised by the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa for the qualifying television-owning households.

The DoC claimed there were about 11.5-million television-owning households in South Africa, of which 72% rely on free-to-air broadcasting services.

The local manufacture of STBs is the second phase of a three-phase project, which included the simultaneous roll-out of physical broadcasting network equipment and the distribution of STBs.

The DoC said it would launch digital migration in the third quarter of this year and the analogue transmission would be switched off on December 31, 2013, after which analogue television sets would require an STB to receive the digital broadcast signal.

Source: http://www.doc.gov.za; http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/bids-pour-in-for-stb-manufacture-tender-2012-05-10

Digital broadcasting on track: Minister | The New Age Online

Phuti Mosomane and Sapa

The switch to digital television broadcasting is on track, Communications Minister Dina Pule told MPs on Tuesday.

"I want to affirm to this House that we are on course on the DTT [digital terrestrial television] process," she said in the opening debate on her department's budget in the National Assembly.Pule said "substantial progress" had been made during the past financial year towards implementation of the broadcasting digital migration policy.The deadline for the switch - which will require television viewers to purchase a set-top box (STB) to interpret the digital signal -- is June 2015.On the STBs, Pule said there was enough capacity to manufacture these locally."We shall finalise the selection process of suitable STB manufacturers in the first quarter of this financial year."The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa had started to finalise DTT regulations."It is envisaged that the final gazette will be published in June 2012."Pule said the SA Broadcasting Corporation, Sentech, and the Universal Service and Access Agency of SA would play a key role in helping the department to deliver digital broadcasting to the country.Sentech had already achieved digital signal coverage to more than 60 percent of the population on the DVB-T2 transmission standard."We have launched the DTT awareness campaign, where we are educating the South African public to understand what digital broadcasting means, and the need for them to take action," Pule said.Implementation of digital broadcasting migration has been topical recently as the switch-over date approaches.

Addressing The New Age Business briefing in March, Pule said the migration to digital TV meant that people would get better quality pictures and sound and a wider content offering on their devices.

“We are on course to launch digital migration in the third quarter of this year. State-owned enterprises like the SABC, Sentech, Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (Usaasa) will play a key role in assisting the department to deliver digital broadcasting in the country. Sentech has already achieved digital signal coverage of 60% of the population,” she said.With digital migration she said the government wants to facilitate the entry of 1000 SMMEs into the electronics manufacturing sector.“These SMMEs would either compete or cooperate with existing and larger electronics manufacturers. The decoders will be manufactured locally,” Pule said.phutim@thenewage.co.za

Source: Digital broadcasting on track: minister | The New Age Online