A Consumer watchdog is calling for greater efforts to advise the public about the switchover to digital TV that starts in November.<\/p>\n
National Consumer Forum chairman Thami Bolani told Business Times that the three-year process needed to be carefully managed to avoid a severe financial impact on the poor.<\/p>\n
Many people are being lured by steep discounts on analogue sets, which could soon be obsolete.<\/p>\n
“There are many facets of the digital migration that require government clarity,” he said. <\/p>\n
“How will it affect the poor?”<\/p>\n
Bolani said that the forum supported the introduction of new technology, which would improve picture quality. <\/p>\n
“[But] we feel that it is in the interest of our consumers to get clear messages about how this will be done and the implications.”<\/p>\n
He said the forum was concerned about the lack of public awareness of the changes, which were only three months away.<\/p>\n
“In our recent radio interviews, it was shocking to learn that almost 99% of the callers had no idea of what digital migration is all about. This simply means that a lot of consumers are likely to misinterpret the massive discounts they get when buying televisions sets,” Bolani said. <\/p>\n
He said that consumers who still had analogue TVs at the end of the switchover period in 2011 would have to buy a device to decode the digital signal.<\/p>\n
“Hence the forum is requesting the government to provide … a strategic policy document on digital migration and its implications,” he said.<\/p>\n
Bolani said the government should conduct consumer awareness programmes and explain what subsidies would be available.<\/p>\n
Adrian Boland, Merchandise Executive of Hitech Multimedia and Mass discounters said, “there is a huge cost difference between analogue and digital televisions, hence we still sell a lot of conventional televisions. An example is a conventional 54cm TV will sell for R899, an LCD will sell for R2199”.<\/p>\n