Digital TV broadcasting standards demystified
The South African Department of Communications (DoC) confused and infuriated industry earlier this year when Director General Mamodupi Mohlala stated that a standard for digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasts hadn’t been selected.
MultiChoice, e.tv, the Southern African Digital Broadcasting Association (SADIBA) and South African Communications Forum (SACF) have all publicly opposed the DoC’s position, citing the Broadcasting Digital Migration Plan (BDMP) published by the DoC in 2008 as well as the migration regulations released by ICASA earlier this year.
The BDMP stated that Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial (DVB-T) would be South Africa’s DTT standard. According to industry stakeholders this policy decision wasn’t unilateral, but came over the course of eight or nine years after two separate recommendations by government-appointed bodies of the European DVB standard for DTT.
According to the DoC it is investigating alternative standards such as the Brazilian version of the Japanese Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting, Terrestrial (ISDB-T) standard, as well as DVB-T2, the newer iteration of the DVB-T standard.
M-Net and e.tv sought to dispel some of the myths surrounding the DVB-T standard earlier this year and in a recent report by ITWeb, Brazil did the same for ISDB-T.
Responding to the claims by the Brazilians, SADIBA released a statement with counter-arguments to each of the points made by the ISDB-T proponents.
No reason for standards to be shrouded in mystery
“Technical performance is measurable and costs are quantifiable. There is no reason to consider the standards debate as being shrouded in mystery,” said SADIBA.
“Whilst all the aspects have been dealt with extensively and in detail in numerous other publications it is regrettable and appalling to note the superficial and argumentative nature of the comments made by ISDB-T proponents,” SADIBA added.
“South Africa and SADC desperately needs accurate, unbiased and clear reporting to ensure informed opinions and clear decision making.”
SADIBA provided a document addressing each of the issues brought up by Brazil which is available from the organisation’s website.
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