DoC comments on digital TV standard selection rumours
The South African Department of Communications (DoC) has issued a statement in response to recent media reports that the government had selected the second generation of the Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial standard (DVB-T2) for the country’s digital broadcasting standard.
Tiyani Rikhotso, spokesperson for the Ministry of communications, issued the statement and it is published verbatim for the sake of accuracy.
“The Ministry of Communications has noted media reports and speculation regarding government’s decision on South Africa’s preferred Digital Terrestrial Television technology standard.
The Minister of Communications will soon announce the decision made by cabinet with regard to this issue.
This follows a review conducted by regional body SADC.
He is currently finalising consultations with relevant stakeholders on matters related to government’s decision.”
South Africa’s digital migration was plunged into disarray last year when the department announced that it was reconsidering South Africa’s chosen digital terrestrial television (DTT) standard, DVB-T.
Speculation abounded that Japan and Brazil was lobbying government to have a version of the Japanese ISDB-T standard used for South Africa’s national broadcasting standard.
Fierce debates raged about the technical superiority of the standards, but Minister of communications Roy Padayachie promised to finalise South Africa’s standard by mid-December 2010, a few weeks after SADC was due to issue its recommendation on DTT standards.
The minister has yet to make such an announcement, but TechCentral reported earlier this week that Kuben Govender, adviser to Padayachie, revealed that the decision to go with DVB-T2 had already been ratified by cabinet.
Rikhotso was unable to answer questions about specifics, but provided some explanation of why Minister Roy Padayachie had delayed in announcing South Africa’s official DTT standard.
According to Rikhotso, Padayachie has been holding “consultations on a wide scale” with various industry players, including operators.
He said that he wasn’t in a position to comment on who those stakeholders are, but explained that the decision will have far-reaching implications and that the minister wanted to ensure that everyone was on-board and that everyone’s concerns were heard.
“The standard is just an aspect of digital migration,” Rikhotso said. “There are so many other issues that are part of this entire process.”
Rikhotso confirmed that the decision has been taken and that the minister will be announcing the decision within the next week.
“As soon as he’s back he’ll make it a priority,” Rikhotso concluded.
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