The Department of Communications (DoC) sent out an e-mail on Friday (24 August 2012) announcing that it had extended the closing date of its tender for South Africa’s subsidised digital TV set-top box (STB).
These decoders, or set-top boxes (STBs), are needed to convert digital television broadcasts to the analogue signals which South African TVs understand.
Around R940-million has been ring-fenced at the Universal Service and Access Agency to subsidise STBs for the poorest in South Africa.
The closing date for the DoC’s Request for Proposal was extended to 14 September 2012, with the following amendments also highlighted:
- The stipulated minimum threshold for local production and content for the STB sector is set at 30%;
- In terms of the revised PPPFA, local content and functionality are a requirement to proceed to the second stage in the bid evaluation process;
- The section on National Industrial Participation Programme (NIPP) has been removed. The reason is that where an industry or sector has been designated for local production, NIPP or offset obligation is not a requirement;
- Antennas no longer need to be quoted for.
Interested bidders originally had to collect and sign for a printed copy of the RFP, but the DoC has announced that the revised version of the document will be on its website tomorrow (28 August 2012).
South Africa is set to begin its migration from analogue to digital broadcasting towards the end September 2012, and has agreed with the International Telecommunications Union to switch off its analogue TV transmissions by June 2015.
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