Signals are encouraging for digital migration
Minister says a number of hurdles have to be cleared before the long-delayed digital migration can happen
Has telecoms regulator Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) finally woken from its slumber? News that it plans to (temporarily) assign radio frequency spectrum to mobile operators and others, to give them extra firepower to tackle Covid-19, suggests SA may finally speed up digital migration.The migration from analogue to digital broadcast services has been looming for 15 years, and SA missed an international deadline to carry out the switch by 2015. Icasa now expects to complete the process in 2021, though there are a number of hurdles to clear before that can happen.In January communications & digital technologies minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said one of the factors holding the government back related to the availability of set-top boxes (STBs), which will allow users of old TV sets to watch free-to-air channels after the switchover.Ndabeni-Abrahams told the FM, in an interview before she was suspended by the president for violating the rules of the Covid-19 lockd...
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