The confusion that is digital migration

The events surrounding digital migration, to say the least, are some of the episodes that have come to define Ugandans.
Otherwise with a court interim order now in the mix, Uganda, if we are to go by the order, could have to delay the journey of switching from analogue to digital broadcasting.
Court last week ruled that the implementation of digital broadcasting in parts of Kampala should be stayed until when a case against the same is disposed.
Digital migration, a global exercise required to be undertaken by all countries, was being implemented in phases here [in Uganda] with the first phase covering a 60 kilometre radius within the Kampala metropolis. The switchover had started on June 15 ahead of the June 17 global deadline.

In Kampala, the interim order directed at Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) was greeted with excitement with a number of people saying “free TV is back” and others castigating government for forcing them to pay to watch television.
This brings us to one thing, which as we have already seen demands that more explanation is made for the wider TV consumer to understand the concept and its merits.
According to UCC Uganda has more than 3.2 million television sets. However, 60 per cent of these are within the Kampala metropolis.
But the unfortunate bit is, perhaps consumers and the market was never prepared for the switch, otherwise what would explain the scarcity of set-top boxes when they are most needed and the court case despite the merits associated with the migration.

A concept so complex or inadequate sensitisation?
The switchover’ is changing from analogue, currently used to broadcast via VHF (Band III) and UHF band (Bands IV and V) to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), where signals are carried on a multiplex that can accommodate channels [in their hundreds] on a single frequency.
Digital broadcasting, according to International Telecommunications Union means better picture and sound quality and freeing up more space for other broadcasters and Internet companies.
The yields, according to Fred Otunnu, the UCC acting director for broadcasting, not only decongest the electromagnetic spectrum but also leads to a more organised coordination of channels.

“Currently, TV channels are over spread, however, digital technology helps to fuse them thereby reducing the space occupied, and creating lots of programming and better quality viewing,” he says.
Digital broadcasting takes two standards including digital satellite broadcasting, which requires use of a satellite dish, already offered by DStv and Azam TV, and Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting offered by the likes of GOtv and StarTimes.

Breaking down the concept
In an interview late last month, Kenya’s ICT Cabinet secretary Fred Okeng’o Matiang’I, said there is no magic bullet to break down the concept but strengthened sensitisation is needed in order to allow the public can follow along every day.
“Those who say the process is complicated make it more complicated,” he said. “Many of us carry smartphones but do we first get training on how to use apps, and the rest? People just realise that technology is changing and they need to adapt.”

Uganda together with the rest of East African countries had set December 2013 as the migration deadline but later shifted it to June 17.
Asked whether government had done enough awareness campaigns, Otunnu said they [UCC] had advertised extensively to a tune of Shs5b.
However, critics say there was not enough awareness, with some accusing UCC of conniving with pay TV providers to hoard set-top boxes with a view of creating an artificial scarcity.
However, Godfrey Mutabazi, the UCC executive director dismisses any such connivance, saying plans are underway to ensure that more free-to-air set-top boxes are imported.

The National Association of Broadcasters estimates more than 10,000 free-to-air set top boxes have been sold with another 10,000 still in stock.
“As per the latest survey Uganda has about 3.2 million TV sets. 20,000 set-top boxes translate to a very limited number of TV viewers who will have migrated by the switch off date,” the association chairman Kin Karisa noted recently in a letter to the Speaker of Parliament.
Uganda currently has less than 100,000 viewers on different pay TV platforms.
Currently, television consumers are required to purchase set-top boxes, which range between Shs150,000 and Shs180,000 for free-to air services and between Shs40,000 and Shs60,000 for pay TV providers.

The confusion that has been created about the switch

Last week on Thursday, the Mengo Chief Magistrates Court presided over by Grade One Magistrate, Moses Ntende Kagoda, issued an interim order directing UCC to switch back analogue transmission until the main application filed by city lawyer Enoth Mugabi is determined.
“An interim order is granted restraining the respondent (UCC) from interfering with the broadcasters’ transmission,” reads the order in part.
Mugabi, the complainant, claims to have been aggrieved by UCC’s ‘switchover’ yet he has a right to freely enjoy viewing television.

UCC has since challenged the order but at the weekend some television channels are alleged to have switched back analogue broadcasting even after officials from the agency and State minister for ICT Nyombi Thembo threatened to act on any stations that would switch back to analogue transmission.
However, all this points to a protracted legal battle with some stakeholders, including National Association of Broadcasters insisting “there is need to agree on a smooth transition that will not force Ugandans to turn into pay TV viewers”.

In fact this view is reinforced by some TV consumers who, considering their ignorance of digital migration, had associated the switch to mean StarTimes, GOtv or any other pay TV service providers.
Tina Wamala, the MultiChoice spokesperson, believes on their part they have assisted to foster the migration through offering ‘affordable’ decoders on both the free-to-air and pay TV platforms.
MultiChoice has two digital platforms run as DStv and GOtv with another free-to-air service offered through a partnership with Signet, the national signal distributor. Signet, which relays signals to other channels, is an affiliate of national broadcaster, UCB.
In East Africa only two countries including Rwanda and Tanzania have fully migrated with Kenya being drawn down by a court battle pitting broadcasters against government.

Other countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria have asked that their deadlines be pushed to 2020 to allow for more groundwork.
The digital transition, undoubtedly is a move in the right direction but with more questions than answers, how does Uganda move forward?

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