The Digital Television Football

Michael Hedges July 12, 2010 - Follow on Twitter

As the World Cup in South Africa is cheered into the football history pages, television audiences have cheered loudest. Viewers by the millions witnessed the “thrill of victory, the agony of defeat” to the joyful noise of the vuvuzela. As morning breaks in South Africa, television’s digital future is making a different noise.

Like much of the world, the South African government agreed with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) that analogue television would be switched off by 2015. The ITU’s 2006 Regional Radiocommunication Conference (RRC-06) concluded with a commitment to digital television and a warning that after 2015 spectrum previously allocated to specific services would be open to all services. Mobile operators could bid for spectrum once used by analogue TV or, it seems, anything else. The ITU RRC-06 treaty gave life to the much lauded ‘digital dividend’ for Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Shortly after the RRC-06 agreement, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) chose the DVB-T standard as the digital television destination. SADC Member States include South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, DR Congo, Malawi, Zambia, Angola, Swaziland, Tanzania, Mauritius, Mozambique and Seychelles. Madagascar’s membership was suspended after a coup d’etat.

Progress on digital television in the region moved right along with plans and tests followed by multiplexes, channels and set-top boxes. About 40% of South Africa has DVB-T coverage. It’s nearly 70% in Mauritius with Namibia and Tanzania in between. South Africa has about 9 million television households, roughly 10% of all the television households in Africa.

Things changed in April with South African Department of Communications (DoC) General Director Mamodupi Mohlala decided to re-evaluate digital television standards, calling DVB-T “problematic.” The newer DVB-T2 digital standard would be evaluated along with the Japanese ISDB-T standard and its Brazilian variant ISDB-Tb. DVB-T2 allows half again more channels. DVB-T is the European standard, used in dozens of countries. In 2008, the South African government approved DVB-T as the digital television standard.

The reaction from the South African and regional television and technology industries ranged from shocked to horrified. “The DoC’s standards review undermines all the stakeholders who have been working on the DTT project for the past ten years,” said commercial broadcaster e.tv CEO Marcel Golding to Engineering News (July 9). Broadcasters have been running DVB-T tests for two years, State-owned transmission provider Sentech is setting up multiplexes and local manufacturers are building set-top boxes. Officially, the analogue switch-off deadline in South Africa is November 2011.

Among South African media watchers speculation of a back-door deal has been rife. The government of Brazil is offering money and experts if the South African DoC decides to switch DTT standards, reports Tech Central (July 9). Brazilian government advisor André Barbosa Filho said manufacturing joint ventures are possible. That would include set-top boxes and mobile TV handsets. Brazilian and Japanese governments are, obviously, interested in export and development opportunities. State broadcaster SABC chairman Ben Ngubane was Ambassador to Japan between 2004 and 2008 and, according to Mail & Guardian (May 28), attended a private presentation by Japanese trade officials on the ISBT digital standard.

Since the April DoC announcement, reinforced by Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda saying in June “other standards had not been fully interrogated,” delegations from Japan, Brazil and the DVB Project have presented their cases in South Africa. DoC DG Mohlala visited Brazil.

Switching digital TV standards would require a new list of technical and diplomatic priorities, all quite time consuming. Spectrum allocations would need to change as the Japanese (and Brazilian) standard uses 6MHz while DVB-T uses 8MHz. Technical experts say ISDB could be modified for 8MHz but that would take time. The ITU, a UN organization, approved DVB-T for the SADC region. That would need a meeting. And, too, the SADC members, most are prepared for DVB-T, would want a word or two.

Unintended consequences have already crept in. Mobile phone operator Vodacom is preparing for 4G mobile using the LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard. 4G mobile is that whole leap from smartphones (3G) to mobile TV, which is expected to be wildly popular in South Africa. Applications for a spectrum auction are due by the end of July. Governments like spectrum auctions for all the obvious financial reasons. The most desirable chunk of spectrum for 4G is currently used by analogue TV and would be available – current digital switch-over schedule intact – by the end of 2011. Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys indicate he might not bid because of potential delays caused by the government review of digital TV standards.

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