Switching to digital TV is not the same as buying a decorder
Mar 14, 2011
I would wish to respond to the digital TV adverts running nearly on every station. Many people do not seem to get the message at all, and most of them would never do regardless of whether you are elite or not.
Ruth Namatovu
I would wish to respond to the digital TV adverts running nearly on every station. Many people do not seem to get the message at all, and most of them would never do regardless of whether you are elite or not.
Though the digital switchover is a step in the right direction for better television, the concept advertised is misleading.
The advert means everyone in the public has to convert through a digital set top box or decoder from either Startimes TV, MoTV or Multi-choice popularly known as DSTV(Digital Satellite Television), which come at a high price for low income earners.
Most low income earners are worried of not ever watching TV again as they cannot afford the set top boxes that cost sh100,000 or more, let alone the monthly subscription fees.
The fear within this class of people is that when the analogue system is switched off, they will not be able to get a TV signal unless they have a decoder, a digital tuner or digital set box. But the whole idea should be that; come the switch off date which is December 31, 2012, everyone should be able to get a TV signal through an antenna or TV aerial for at least the local TV channels such as WBS, NTV, UBC, NTV, Record, Bukedde, Miracle, NBS and the rest.These ones are free-to-air and should not be paid for as is the case with Startimes, DSTV, or MoTV. These pay for view TV service providers make us pay for TV channels that are free to air and are not meant to be paid for through their monthly subscription fees.
The way it is supposed to be happening is that when your subscription runs out on DSTV or MoTV or Startimes TV, a customer should still be able to watch the local television stations because you do not have to pay for their viewing; (They are free to air), especially UBC which is a public service broadcaster.
However, these pay-for-view TV service providers (Startimes TV and the rest) are reaping off Ugandans by making us pay for free to air channels.
A subscriber is only meant to pay for other programmes such as discovery world, children channels and others that come with their pay-for-view TV services.
This is a serious concern and the regulators — Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and the Broadcasting Council should seriously look into this. The public that will be largely affected by the digital TV switchover is ignorant of the whole digital TV switchover process.
Although digital switchover is one way to convert to digital television — through digital decoders — it is the most expensive option to the ordinary Ugandan.
What UCC and the Broadcasting Council are doing, is purely advertise for private investors; not what the Government should do to get everyone switched to digital television through an antenna, without necessarily having to buy a decoder.
Digital television does not only mean that you have to watch foreign programmes; no, it means that you must be able to a get a TV signal from an upgraded transmitter through the digital terrestrial broadcasting system and should be able to watch at least five standard local TV channels that you do not have to pay for by subscription.
The Government is expected to set-up a fully fledged digital terrestrial television broadcasting infrastructure that is supposed to have either upgraded transmitters or brand new digital transmitters at its main site in Kololo and all the other 50 relay transmitters that cover other regions.
I understand money was set aside to have this infrastructure put in place by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology. If UCC and the Broadcasting Council go on to promote the digital TV switchover via the pay-for-view TV services only, then the majority of Ugandans will not enjoy digital TV viewing because they cannot afford sh100,000 for the available services.
How digital terrestrial television works, is that signals are broadcast from an upgraded transmitter network, and received through a normal television aerial. These services can then be viewed on an ordinary television set either via a recording device with an intergraded digital tuner, a set-top box or directly using an integrated digital television set (IDTV).
IDTV is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or underground cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or aerials. The term is more common in Europe, while in the US it is referred to as broadcast television.
Researcher /consultant in broadcast technologies and the author of Uganda’s Transition from Analogue to Digital TV broadcasting
I would wish to respond to the digital TV adverts running nearly on every station. Many people do not seem to get the message at all, and most of them would never do regardless of whether you are elite or not.
Though the digital switchover is a step in the right direction for better television, the concept advertised is misleading.
The advert means everyone in the public has to convert through a digital set top box or decoder from either Startimes TV, MoTV or Multi-choice popularly known as DSTV(Digital Satellite Television), which come at a high price for low income earners.
Most low income earners are worried of not ever watching TV again as they cannot afford the set top boxes that cost sh100,000 or more, let alone the monthly subscription fees.
The fear within this class of people is that when the analogue system is switched off, they will not be able to get a TV signal unless they have a decoder, a digital tuner or digital set box. But the whole idea should be that; come the switch off date which is December 31, 2012, everyone should be able to get a TV signal through an antenna or TV aerial for at least the local TV channels such as WBS, NTV, UBC, NTV, Record, Bukedde, Miracle, NBS and the rest.These ones are free-to-air and should not be paid for as is the case with Startimes, DSTV, or MoTV. These pay for view TV service providers make us pay for TV channels that are free to air and are not meant to be paid for through their monthly subscription fees.
The way it is supposed to be happening is that when your subscription runs out on DSTV or MoTV or Startimes TV, a customer should still be able to watch the local television stations because you do not have to pay for their viewing; (They are free to air), especially UBC which is a public service broadcaster.
However, these pay-for-view TV service providers (Startimes TV and the rest) are reaping off Ugandans by making us pay for free to air channels.
A subscriber is only meant to pay for other programmes such as discovery world, children channels and others that come with their pay-for-view TV services.
This is a serious concern and the regulators — Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and the Broadcasting Council should seriously look into this. The public that will be largely affected by the digital TV switchover is ignorant of the whole digital TV switchover process.
Although digital switchover is one way to convert to digital television — through digital decoders — it is the most expensive option to the ordinary Ugandan.
What UCC and the Broadcasting Council are doing, is purely advertise for private investors; not what the Government should do to get everyone switched to digital television through an antenna, without necessarily having to buy a decoder.
Digital television does not only mean that you have to watch foreign programmes; no, it means that you must be able to a get a TV signal from an upgraded transmitter through the digital terrestrial broadcasting system and should be able to watch at least five standard local TV channels that you do not have to pay for by subscription.
The Government is expected to set-up a fully fledged digital terrestrial television broadcasting infrastructure that is supposed to have either upgraded transmitters or brand new digital transmitters at its main site in Kololo and all the other 50 relay transmitters that cover other regions.
I understand money was set aside to have this infrastructure put in place by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology. If UCC and the Broadcasting Council go on to promote the digital TV switchover via the pay-for-view TV services only, then the majority of Ugandans will not enjoy digital TV viewing because they cannot afford sh100,000 for the available services.
How digital terrestrial television works, is that signals are broadcast from an upgraded transmitter network, and received through a normal television aerial. These services can then be viewed on an ordinary television set either via a recording device with an intergraded digital tuner, a set-top box or directly using an integrated digital television set (IDTV).
IDTV is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or underground cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or aerials. The term is more common in Europe, while in the US it is referred to as broadcast television.
Researcher /consultant in broadcast technologies and the author of Uganda’s Transition from Analogue to Digital TV broadcasting