Digital television migration in Africa is - and will continue to be driven - through pay television across the continent.

The important switch to digital television in Africa and the uptake under ordinary consumers of digital TV is, and will remain driven by pay TV and subscription television services across the continent.

So says Christoph Limmer, the senior director for market development in Africa at SES, the European satellite provider that provides satellite services and capacity to pay TV operators across Africa, such as TopTV in South Africa. He was speaking at the AfricaCast 2011 TV summit in Cape Town that is part of the 14th AfricaCom conference.

''In Africa it's mainly pay TV and subscription-based television through direct-to-home (DTH) satellite that is driving the uptake of digital television. In the future digital television in Africa will definitely be driven through pay television,'' he said.

''In Abuja for instance the trend has become for consumers to have not just one but two pay TV services. I've never seen so many satellite dishes on rooftops in my life,'' he said.