UCC starts digital migration today
A woman watches TV in her home. Stations which will not have migrated to digital broadcasting will starting today be off air. PHOTO by Rachel Mabala
What you need to know:
Ultimatum. The deadline was set by the 198 member nations of the International Telecommunications Union meeting in 2006 in Geneva
Kampala.
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and Uganda Broadcasting Corporation affiliate in charge of digital migration, Signet, will today test switch over from analogue to digital broadcasting ahead of the Wednesday international deadline.
The June 17 deadline was set by the 198 member nations of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) meeting on June 16, 2006 for the Regional Radio Communication Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
UCC executive director Godfrey Mutabazi, in a June 11 statement indicated that UCC would carry out a planned switch off from today leading to the period of total switch off in the entire country.
“The commission hereby informs you that it is satisfied with the current digital coverage that has existed for the past six months in Kampala and areas 60km outside Kampala,” Mr Mutabazi wrote to all television broadcasters and the minister of Information and Communication Technology, Mr John Nasasira.
According to UCC, the switch over will be in three phases, Phase one starting today, Phase two commencing on July 31, covering Arua, Kisoro, Mbarara, Mbale, Masaka and Masindi, and Phase three on August 30, covering Jinja, Ntungamo, Rubirizi, Fort portal, Gulu, Kiboga, Lira, Kabale and Soroti districts.
According to UCC, findings by Ipsos synovate, a marketing and research firm, reveal there is an estimated 3.5 million TV owners in the country set to be affected when the country migrates.
Some, however, had already embraced the new technology. Digital broadcasting takes two standards, Digital Satellite broadcasting which requires use of a Satellite Dish to capture data transmissions from long distances, and in Uganda is already offered by service provider such as MultiChoice’s DStv and Azam TV.
The other is Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting where a consumer requires an outdoor antenna to capture signals from the signal distributor and set top box/decoders to convert them into images. Service providers such as Gotv and StarTimes are already positioned in the market with this pay/subscription TV standard.
However, for the majority Ugandans who cannot afford paying for TV, UCC says is pushing for free-to-air terrestrial broadcasting.
Today, Information minister Jim Muhwezi is expected to preside over the switch over at UBC offices.
About digital broadcasting
Digital Migration or ‘switch over’ is the name given to the process of changing from analogue terrestrial television, currently used widely where television broadcast services are transmitted on the VHF (Band III) and UHF band (Bands IV and V).
Migration means switching to digital terrestrial television (DTT), where signals are carried on a multiplex, which can carry many televisions in the same frequency channel as one analogue television service.
