Why you must replace that TV set

Kampala

The government has slapped a ban on the importation of analog televisions in a move aimed at switching TV broadcasting to digital.

According to Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), by the end of this year, all television owners must have digitalized their sets.
The acting Executive Director of UCC, Eng. Godfrey Mutabazi, said: “Importers who want to be in business should make sure they bring in sets that are digital and not analogue.”

While speaking to journalists yesterday in Kampala, Mr Mutabazi said analogue TV sets will not receive signals come 2012 and urged households to make the necessary adjustments. “Anybody who is buying a television should make sure it is digital,” he said.

Digital broadcasting sends and receives moving images and sound by discreet digital signals whereas analog broadcasting does so in a continuous manner.

3.5 million affected
In essence, once digitalised, television owners will receive improved signal quality and will be able to receive more channels and better content without an outdoor aerial.

At least 3.5 million Ugandans will be affected by the decision.
Ugandans who currently own analogue televisions will be required to buy top box (decoders) to be able to access channels or buy digitalised sets to access local channels.

The top box equipment costs between $50 (about Shs125,000) and $100 (about Shs230,000). However, the Shs230,000 may be expensive for majority of Ugandans living in poverty as of 2009 at 31 per cent, according to records from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics.

UCC, the broadcasting regulator, has also asked the Uganda Revenue Authority and the Uganda National Bureau of Standards to impound what it described as “obsolete” television sets. However, television dealers are upset at the decision. “What is obvious is that this decision has been reached without consulting the stakeholders,” the spokesperson for the Kampala City Traders Association, Mr Issa Sekitto, said in an interview yesterday.

According to Mr Sekitto, who doubles as a television importer, the over 100 traders that import TVs have not been sensitised on the difference between analogue and digital sets. He said most importers bring in orders that last six months and are therefore going to be affected by the unilateral decision taken by the regulators.

But UCC said TV stations have more time to concentrate on content than infrastructure and the regulator will not only monitor the sector easily and ensure proper use of the spectrum. Mr Mutabazi emphasised that no more analogue stations will be licensed.