Digital migration: Analogue switch off by 30 June

• Published date: 19 May 2022
• Publication title: South African Official News

The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies is working towards concluding the analogue switch-off by the end of next month, Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said on Wednesday.

Ntshavheni said this when she tabled the department's budget vote before a mini-plenary of the National Assembly.

She said the Broadcast Digital Migration process is a critical digital transformation step that redefines the ICT path for South Africa.

'We are happy to update honourable members that we are working towards concluding the analogue switch-off by the 30th of June 2022, and this is after the Gauteng High Court ruled in support of the conclusion of the programmes [and] extended the time for the Minister to complete the installation of Set-Top-Boxes for qualifying households who applied for government support by 31 October 2021,' she said.

Ntshavheni said the department's R2.7 billion budget does not make transfer provisions to signal distributor SENTECH for the migration of digital signals and dual illumination costs relating to the digital migration.

This was because the department has achieved a 100 percent digital network coverage and it has satisfied all Broadcast Digital Migration Policy conditions and regulatory requirements that...