Uganda will beat digital migration deadline - govt
Sep 06, 2011
Uganda will not seek an extension of the 2012 East African regional migration deadline of switching from analogue to digital broadcasting technology, the Government has announced.
By david ssempijja
Uganda will not seek an extension of the 2012 East African regional migration deadline of switching from analogue to digital broadcasting technology, the Government has announced.
Information communication technology state minister Nyombi Tembo, assured the nation that despite the challenges, Uganda would beat the regional migration deadline.
“We would like to assure broadcasters that the Government is not thinking of asking for a deadline extension. We are sure we will beat the deadline,†Thembo said at Hotel Africana last week.
He was speaking during the launch of GOtv, a new digital pay television broadcaster and a subsidiary of MultiChoice.
GOtv is aided by the next generation digital video broadcast technology, which enables delivery of clearer pictures and sound to the television and radio service consumers.
The East African Community set an earlier deadline than the global one of June 2015, which was set by the 2006 Geneva regional radio conference under the International Communications Union.
Parliament recently stopped a $74m (about sh192b) loan from the EXIM Bank of China over procurement flaws. The loan was to fund the migration process by UBC.
from analogue television to digital.
“The GOtv brand was created by MultiChoice to make digital television product affordable. It comes with a variety of choice options from local and global content,†according to Patricia Kiconco, the GOtv business manager.
Digital terrestrial transmission (DTT) is backed by technology that enables broadcasters deliver increase channel numbers by at least 75% through a single frequency with improved picture, signal and sound quality.
The technology phases out the installation of dishes and requires people to buy Set Top Boxes (STBs) from service providers, small external aerials or short indoor antennas.
Information minister Mary Karoro Okurut, MultiChoice Uganda chairman Steven Musoke and the company managing director Charles Hamya attended the function.