DVB-T2 for South Africa. With DVB-T2 that has now been approved and confirmed by the South African government as the digital television standard for the country moving forward - a standard welcomed by all the South African broadcasters and the South African television industry - where is South African currently in the switchover to digital terrestrial television (a process known as ''digital migration''), and what has to happen next?
Well, as South Africa's minister of communications Roy Padayachie explains, the deadline for switch-over has now been moved from November 2011 to December 2013 giving the South African TV industry and broadcasters an additional 2 years to complete the process to DTT whereby broadcasters will change their signals from analogue to fully digital broadcasts.
As I told you RIGHT HERE in November, the SABC is currently not investing any further money in DTT and the public broadcaster's digital broadcasting switch-over other than running its DVB-T trial. That will now definitely change with the certainty in a digital TV standard. Meanwhile M-Net and e.tv already started running a joint DVB-T2 trial (read about it RIGHT HERE) from the end of last year.
So, what has to happen next as South Africa's TV broadcasting industry moves on to the next phase of digital migration? What's the next steps? What is the South African government yet to do who has to spearhead this massive broadcasting switch-over undertaking, when does that mean for local set-top box manufacturers and what will the South African broadcasters do next?
For my full analysis to put the just-announced DVB-T2 standard confirmation into perspective, click on READ MORE below.
With final certainty about DVB-T2 as South Africa's digital television standard, the entire South African television industry and broadcasters are breathing a huge sigh of relief as they forge ahead in the vast and expensive process of digital migration that will alter the South African TV landscape over the course of the next 3 years forever.
With several domino decisions in this delicate digital drive happening concurrently, the next major digital injection will be the impetus from the South African Buro of Standards (SABS) who will hopefully soon publish the specific set of set-top box (STB) standards that would-be manufacturers would have to adhere to. That in turn will provide the blueprint for potential local STB manufacturers, some of whom have demo models (broadcasters currently use imported and self-modified STB's in their DTT trials) but no real idea of what would be required for South African STB's, wht the hardware will have to incorporate and look like, and the specific requirements that these digital signal receivers will have to adhere to.
Then there is also the South African government who will be paying for DTT. In simple terms there's 3 sets of money allocations that still needs clarity and it will be the South African department of communications that will still have to say exactly how it will handle the ''payment'' for each one of these 3. Firstly the government has to ''pay'' the state-owned signal distributor Sentech for the coming digital signal conversion for the software, the technological infrastructure and the roll-out of DTT. Secondly the government has to pay the SABC as public broadcaster for its coversion to digital broadcasts. Thirdly the government has to pay South African TV viewers in the form of a subsidy who will have to buy new STB's in order to receive and watch digital TV signals.
Now let's look at each of these 3 government decisions that still has to be spelled out or need specific clarification briefly, but more closely. The government has already allocated money to the troubled and struggling Sentech that has started the roll-out of a digital signal. Sentech (as well as the commercial broadcasters) will run the analogue signals as well as the new parallel digital signals, a process known as ''dual illumination'' for a period of time until the analogue signals are eventually switched off. The switch-over as well as running a double signal is obviously very expensive. Sentech says the government allocated money to do this is not enough. So the first government decision will be not if Sentech will get more money (the government will just have to pay more) but exactly how much and when.
Ditto for the SABC who has also indicated that the money from government allocated specifically for DTT is not enough. Again the government won't be able to refuse. The government will have to decide as soon as possible how much more money, and when, it will give to the South African public broadcaster to enable DTT broadcast conversion.
Thirdly, the South African cabinet has already approved R2,45 billion to, as it says, subsidise about 70% of the envisioned cost of a set-top box (estimated at about R800 each) for 5 million of South Africa's ''poorest'' households. The industry and goverment calls this the ''STB Scheme-for-Ownership-Support'' or STB SOS. Here's the problems and issues and specific decisions the government needs to decide on and explain. The government has not said a single word yet on how this STB SOS subsidy will work. Secondly, it doesn't appear as if the government is good with math. ''Poorest'' households in South Africa number far more than 5 million. To subsidise 70% of a STB (even with the government's conservative TV household estimate) will cost way more than R2,45 billion. And how will the government decide what households are ''poor enough'' to get this subsidy? All questions the South African department of communications needs to answer as soon as possible in the process of digital migration.
Moving on to STB manufacturers. After the SABS standards have been approved, how will the process work of allocating preferred STB manufacturers, and who will they be? How will their government ''subsidy'' work? Will they be paid by government directly, or will they recoup their money through coupons or another incentive at retail level once STB's are sold? These decisions affect the macro roll-out dynamics of STB's countrywide.
Then there's digital channel content and new DTT channels. This is the domain of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) who's also sadly lagging behind in any real attempt at giving direction and energy to the DTT process. Icasa will have to approve digital channels for the broadcasters. This has to happen in time for broadcasters to start these channels (an expensive exercise, since it will be for their cost and a drain on their operational budgets). If you want people to switch-over and fuel DTT uptake, you need to give people something (more) to watch. There needs to be an incentive but ''real'' (currently the SABC, e.tv and M-Net are broadcasting ''trial'' TV channels) digital channels in terms of their names and their content specifications can only happen with final Icasa approval.
Then there's general decisions regarding DTT. How will the massive educational marketing effort work telling South African consumers and TV viewers about the switch and what to do? What will be done to protect viewers and consumer from obsolete technology that might flood the market and be sold in the switchover by unscrupulous people? Will, can (and would it beneficial or detrimental given growing audience fragmentation) to licence and have more new free-to-air digital TV broadcasters who also want to enter the broadcasting fray and set up TV channels?
South Africa's DTT switch-over is clearly a massive, digital interlocking puzzle with a myriad of issues and interdependent and difficult decisions that needs to be answered - but answered as quickly and as correctly as possible.
