Government and Regulators are under pressure to ensure Africa’s Television Ecosystem fully switches from analogue to digital, by June 2015. Rodney Benn, Regional Vice President for Africa at Eutelsat, tells us why this is going to be near impossible and the knock-on effects which range from sizeable companies facing bankruptcy to rogue broadcasting from beyond our boarders. – CP
GUGULETHU MFUPHI: It’s good to have you back with us here on Power Lunch. Government and Regulators are under pressure to ensure Africa’s Television Ecosystem fully switches from analogue to digital, by June 2015. Will this happen and what are the challenges that we’re currently facing? Joining us to answer these questions is Rodney Benn, Regional Vice President for Africa at Eutelsat. It’s good to have you with us, Rodney. Maybe, let’s pick up on this deadline. June 2015: who actually set it and how are you going to meet it?
RODNEY BENN: The deadline has been set by the International Telecommunications Union. It was actually set many years ago – probably about ten years ago and at the time, there was lots of time. It looked as though it was a perfectly attainable deadline. Of course, time waits for no man so the time has whittled away and we sit in a situation where the full DDT network here in South Africa, is fully ready to go. Technically, it’s perfect. What we’re waiting for is the launch and distribution of the setup boxes, and that’s proven a challenge.
ALEC HOGG: What’s holding it back?
RODNEY BENN: Public participation and funding… There’s a plethora, but I think mainly (probably) political will. There needs to be a very definite line drawn in the sand by the Minister of Communications to say ‘look, this is what has to happen’. There’s been a little bit of infighting between private broadcasters and the State broadcaster, but I think those are challenges, which every country has had and are solvable.
ALEC HOGG: What happens if we don’t switch over to digital by the 2015 deadline?
RODNEY BENN: No-one’s going to die. Nothing’s going to change. Lightning is not going to flash. All that it means is that the license for those particular VHF television frequencies…the protection of those licenses is going to be lost.
ALEC HOGG: What does that mean?
RODNEY BENN: Theoretically, anyone could start using those frequencies because they’re not licensed anymore and that’s what has to be managed.
GUGULETHU MFUPHI: Doesn’t this open up opportunities then for illegal broadcast?
ALEC HOGG: Yes, you would think so.
RODNEY BENN: It possibly could, although we have a Regulator. The Regulator’s job is to make sure that that doesn’t happen.
ALEC HOGG: If the international guys are saying those licenses are now null and void, what power does a Regulator have?
RODNEY BENN: Well, the local Regulator has whatever proprietary/regulatory powers, and so they could. My opinion – and this my personal opinion – is that they could hold off anyone using those frequencies for a bit, and it would almost be on a gentleman’s basis. Theoretically, however, there could be quite a lot of frequency…
ALEC HOGG: But Rodney, you know this industry. When you think back to what happened in Europe with Radio Luxembourg. They put up a broadcast aerial and they broadcast into Britain. Couldn’t somebody who has a similar intention, put up an aerial in Botswana or Swazi?
RODNEY BENN: Someone could do it from across the border – absolutely – and so this problem needs to be solved. On the other hand, Alec, I don’t think people or Government should fixate on this June date. I think people need to get their heads down and solve the challenges. They are not insolvable. It’s a question of getting the stakeholders together, public/private partnership led by the Government… It’s already happening, but it’s just slow. What needs to happen now is that someone has to take a decision about getting those setup boxes out. The opportunities for local job creation are immense. If you think, South Africa has something in the region of just over ten million television homes. That means ten million boxes have to be manufactured.
ALEC HOGG: Very briefly, Ellies (a company that distributes it): is this part of the problem that they’re facing now?
RODNEY BENN: Absolutely. Ellies are sitting, waiting to distribute but the boxes haven’t been manufactured. The boxes can’t be manufactured until finality is given as to what the specification of that box is, specifically in the area of conditional access and encryption.
ALEC HOGG: So you could have a big company going bust, due to dilly-dallying.
RODNEY BENN: That’s the implication – absolutely.
ALEC HOGG: Rodney Benn from Eutelsat is the Regional Vice President for Africa [inaudible 04:43] that company – an interesting topic. I’m sorry we don’t have more time for it.