SA set for installation of subsidised digital STBs


Details

Rebecca Hawkes

| 11 December 2015




The first batch of South Africa’s subsidised digital set-top boxes (STBs) are soon to be installed in homes in Keimoes in the Northern Cape as part of the nationwide migration to digital broadcasting.


Keimos is located within the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) area, where over 2,400 households have registered to receive STBs to enable reception of digital terrestrial television (DTT) signals.

Communications Minister Faith Muthambi said the government would distribute 23,000 STBs free of charge to the community around the SKA area beginning 17 December 2015. This will mark the first installation of digital STBs in South Africa since the DTT policy was gazetted in March 2015.

“Television viewing experience will never be the same for many households here in the Northern Cape. This progress marks a significant milestone of the Broadcasting Digital Migration project,” said Muthambi. “The SKA area in the Northern Cape was identified as the place where the digital migration project will first be implemented. It is quite fitting that this roll-out starts here, given the huge leap forward that the SKA represents in innovation and technological advancement.”

SKA has been chosen as the site where the world’s largest radio telescope will be built.