Zimbabwe's digital broadcasting 4 years behind schedule

The failure by the government to fund the country's digitisation project, which seeks to enhance migration from analog to digital broadcasting, has delayed the process with the project now four years behind schedule.

The whole project requires about US$72 million.

The government has been funding the project, including a loan also provided from Chinese telecommunications giant, Huawei.

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services has been touring the transmission sites countrywide and expressed concern about the delay in releasing funds to complete the digitisation exercise.

Speaking at the Kamativi transmission site in Hwange Friday, the parliamentary portfolio committee chairperson Sipho Ndlovu-Mokone urged the government to prioritise the project.

"We are appealing to the Treasury to timeously disburse funds so that this project is completed as per plan. The project was launched in 2015, and it was supposed to be completed in 2017, but we are already in 2021 as it is moving at a snail's pace," she said.

Only 18 transmitters out of targeted 48 for TV have been installed while five out of 24 for radio are complete.

The legislators heard the project was only 43% complete.

Transmedia chief operating officer Rufaro Zaranyika said, with the injection of adequate funding, the project could be completed in time.

Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa recently told MPs at the pre-budget seminar in Victoria Falls the digitisation project needed urgent funding for it to be completed.

Some remote areas in Zimbabwe still do not receive radio or TV signals and it is hoped with the migration exercise from analog to a digital platform, the citizens will be able to have access to both radio and TV signals.