Dysfunctional South Africa: Old Analogue TVs to be kept… for now
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[We have been waiting for years for the switch off. But the Blacks are protesting it!!! Jan]
Several civil society organisations and a community television channel are campaigning against the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies’ plan to switch off all analogue TV signals in South Africa by the end of March 2022.
The group has alleged that the switch-off would leave 14 million people without access to free-to-air TV.
“Over 100 organisations are expected to attend the People’s Assembly to #SaveFreeTV at 10:00 on Thursday in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, as well as online,” it said in a statement.
The group has also invited communications minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni to the event to “hold her accountable”.
The campaign demands that the government delay the analogue switch-off and keep its commitments to support the move to digital TV.
Sthe Khuluse from Right2Know stated that millions of mostly marginalised people would lose access to vital news, information, and education unless action were taken.
“Free TV is critical to enabling our rights to free expression and access to information,” Khuluse said.
The Peoples Media Consortium’s Hassan Lorgart said the change would lead to the communication industry becoming more privatised, with more people moving over to DStv.
“The divide between the information-rich and information poor will only deepen,” Lorgart stated.
It should be noted that the channels available on digital TV can be accessed via a digital set-top box or TV with a digital tuner connected to an antenna, and are not exclusive to MultiChoice’s DStv decoder.
Ntshavheni has also stated that South Africans would be able to view free-to-air channels available on digital terrestrial television (DTT) on eMedia’s Openview platform.
The Leratadima DTT box can be bought on Takealot with an antenna for R799 once-off
Ntshavheni formally proclaimed that South Africa would complete its analogue TV switch-off at the end of March 2022 after more than a decade of delays.
Political wrangling and legal disagreements over technical standards had bogged down the process, causing South Africa to miss its own 2011 switch-off deadline, and an international 2015 switch-off deadline.
Government’s failure has also jeopardised the auction of valuable radio frequency spectrum, as analogue TV broadcasts still occupy some of the frequencies being sold to mobile network operators.
Mobile operators have said their lack of spectrum is a significant stumbling block to reducing mobile data prices.
While most stakeholders in the communications industry have expressed support for the analogue switch-off, E-tv owner eMedia’s views align with those participating in the #SaveFreeTV campaign.
eMedia has said it stands to lose millions of viewers overnight due to the switch-off and wants a further nine to 12-month delay to ensure all affected parties get the necessary equipment in their homes to watch digital TV.
It was unclear how the campaign itself came up with the number of 14 million people that would supposedly not have access to digital TV broadcasting by the switch-off date.
Minister Ntshavheni has repeatedly reiterated that no South Africans would be left behind during the migration process.
While uptake on registrations for subsidised digital set-top-boxes (STBs) for indigent households earning below R3,500 per month had been slow, Ntshavheni pointed out that many people already had the means to receive broadcasts outside of analogue TV.
“11 million South Africans are already watching TV through satellite, and others are watching TV through DTT-compliant TV sets,” she stated.
In addition, her department had found that most indigent households who had qualified for STBs already had DTT-compliant televisions. That meant they only required an aerial to access digital TV.
“This digital migration is not starting today. The message has gone across,” she said.
The department has turned off the SABC’s analogue transmitters in five provinces, while all DStv’s analogue transmitters in the country have also been switched off.
Only four of E-tv’s analogue transmitters have been switched off, and it is unlikely to shut down the rest until the outcome of its court challenge asking for a delay in the process, due to be heard in mid-March.
British author asks: What did we win in WW2? 10 Myths (lies) the British believe about WW2!
Im delighted to see the British asking themselves questions about the utterly stupid war they fought, exclusively for the benefit of world Jewry!
