The country was the last in the region to adopt public TV broadcasting in 1994 - with the exception of Zanzibar that established a public television in 1973. But now, it has become the first to achieve the switch over from analogue to digital broadcasting in East Africa.Uganda and Kenya had earlier planned a phase by phase switchover from midnight today, starting with Kampala and Nairobi, but lack of preparation and disputes would definitely not make that possible.
A Kenyan court has ordered the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) and the Information and Communication ministry to delay migration until January 11 when the Court would deliver a ruling on a case filed by a consumer lobby. The countrywide migration was earlier this year pushed to March 2013 after the countryís General Election.
The Uganda Communications Commission wanted to start progressive switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting at midnight on December 31 in Kampala and its suburbs. The transmission would have been dual illumination also called simulcast, meaning the two systems would have run parallel to each other until 2015.But, according to reports, the deadline has been silently postponed to July 17, 2015 ñ the global deadline.
Burundi has set June 17, 2015 as the deadline for migration while in Rwanda, the minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, announced in September that Kigaliís final switch to digital transmission was yet to be decided.
The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) says everything is in place for the switchover at midnight.Three companies were licensed to provide digital terrestrial television (DTT) ëmultiplexing, signal distribution and transmission services.í These include Agape Associates Limited, Star Media Tanzania Limited, and Basic Transmissions Limited.
Agape, owned by a religious organisation, broadcasts through the TING brand, which sells decoders to viewers. Star Media, a private-public venture, uses Star Times brand.
Basic Transmission hasnít yet started operations.
The Public Relations manager of TCRA, Mr Innocent Mungy, says the digital migration will be effected at midnight in all seven major urban centres where analogue broadcasting was officially available. These include Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Arusha, Mbeya and Dodoma.
Communications, Science and Technology minister Makame Mbarawa said at a recent conference that early migration is better than a late one.
Switching to digital broadcasting three years before the International Telecommunication Union deadline in 2015, helps us to equip with technical skills and experience ready to face any challenge arising, as we head to the deadline,î said Prof Mbarawa.
According to the TCRA, implementation of the digital migration roadmap started on June 15, 2006. The past six years have been a ësimulcast periodí where both analogue and digital transmission were being carried out.Prof Mbarawa told a news conference yesterday in Dar es Salaam that the complete switch-over will be effected step by step, starting with Dar es Salaam City today midnight, followed by Dodoma and Tanga on January 31, 2013; Mwanza February 28; Moshi and Arusha March 31 and Mbeya April 30.
Prof John Nkoma, director general of TCRA cautioned, ìLet Tanzanians not think that we will push forward the deadline as we did for the mobile phone number registration.
The main benefits television viewers will get in digital broadcasting include better sound and picture quality.
Also, the country will experience efficient use of spectrum through multichannel functionalities.
ìDigital transmitter equipment are energy efficient, hence consumption of energy is low unlike the analogue transmitter,î Mr Mungy said.Mr Mungy told The Citizen in an interview last week that a minimum of 400 channels would be available for broadcasting.This is a huge opportunity for content producers and entrepreneurs who would wish to invest in TV broadcastingí and is a very big employment potential.
He said the country in the long run was expected to witness the rise of specialised channels and TV programmes like those specialising in business promotion, advertisement, nature and environment, science and technology, agriculture and others.According to Mr Mungy, Tanzania has a total of six million TV sets out of which only 2.6 million subscribers were expected to migrate.Commenting on the digital switchover, an independent business and finance consultant, Dr Donald Olomi, said that the technology was expected to bring more competition in the broadcasting and ICT business arena.
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