Zimbabwe to miss digitalisation deadline

Zimbabwe is unlikely to meet the June 2015 international digital migration deadline set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) due to lack of funding and a coordinated approach, a telecommunication expert has said.

Presenting a paper on challenges on digital migration in the region, and lessons learnt by Zimbabwe at a media workshop organised by Media Institute for Southern Africa (Misa) at the weekend, Massive Technologies head, Engineer Cloud Nyamundanda, said the country would miss out on the deadline.

"Zimbabwe is not on course to meet the ITU deadline because there is lack of coordination from all stakeholders, namely government, consumers, regulators, broadcasters and signal carriers on the digital migration process," said Nyamundanda.

The global community has set June 2015 as deadline to shift from analogue to digital, a development meant to increase spectrum for television and radio. Zimbabwe already missed the 2012 Southern African Development Community digitalisation deadline and now, according to Nyamundanda, meeting the next target remained just but a hope.

Currently, the country has one broadcaster running two channels and if the digitalisation thrust is achieved, experts believe that not less than 100 television channels would be accommodated on the same frequency wave hosting ZBC tv and radio.

So far in the region, countries such as Mozambique, South Africa and Mauritius have or are on course to achieving the digital deadline.

"In Mozambique, there are 16 private and one public broadcaster and has three cable TV operators using conventional ground cable system and one optical fibre over electricity power infrastructure," Nyamundanda said.

Government has been claiming that it was on course to meet the deadline, raising hopes that there would be more broadcasting stations after the digital migration deadline.

Nyamundanda said for the initial phase of digitalisation, government needed more than $30 million, with more funds required for public awareness.

"Consumer awareness must start as a matter of urgency. These would be led by the ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services or a national public awareness taskforce.

"Policy must be put in place to ban imports of TV sets that are not DVB-T2 (Digital Video Broadcasting - Second Generation Terrestrial) compliant immediately to avoid dumping of these gadgets from those who have gone digital ahead of us," he said.

Zimbabwe has set up four Ultra High Frequency (UHF) transformers countrywide with each having a capacity of carrying 18 to 20 new television channels. While Zimbabwe is still wallowing in the analogue era, neighbours such as Botswana and South Africa have made strides in the digitalisation process.

According to Nyamundanda, for an ordinary television set to connect to the DVB-T2, a set top box is required (a device similar to a decoder) and due to its cost, government would have to intervene to cushion the impoverished society.

Parliamentarians from the portfolio committee on Media and Broadcasting Services who attended the workshop said they would take up the matter with government so that Zimbabwe does not miss out on the deadline.