Preparing for digital migration

As we prepare for the transition to digital broadcasting, Rachel Kanyoro examines what you need to get ready for the process.

We have been hearing a lot about the transition from analogue to digital television as Uganda and the rest of the world wait for the pending deadline of June 2015.

Digital broadcasting migration is a process in which broadcasting services offered on the traditional analog technology are replaced with digital based networks.

You might wonder why this migration will be important for you. Godfrey Mutabazi, executive director, Uganda Communications Commission, says that with digital television viewers will be able to have better quality TV with improved television reception/signal and clearer audio among others.

According to the UCC digital migration guideline, preparing for the digital TV migration requires that all TV owners need to either acquire a Set-Top-Box (STB) to connect to their analogue TV or purchase a digital television set, which has an inbuilt digital tuner.

For free or pay
A digital TV is any TV that has a digital tuner. However, if one still has an analogue TV, one needs to get a digital receiver in form of a set-top box (also referred to as a decoder). A set-top box is a device which converts the signals from a digital television broadcast into a form which can be viewed on the traditional television set.

Moving into digital migration does not however mean that all TVs shall now be broadcast via satellite because there shall be two types of broadcasting and that is satellite and terrestrial broadcasting.
Satellite broadcasting is where the broadcaster sends the signal to the satellite and then it is beamed back from the satellite to the consumer.

A satellite dish is required by the consumer in this case. In the case of terrestrial broadcasting, the signal is sent by a broadcaster to a transmission tower and is then beamed through a network of towers to the users. In this case, the consumer uses an aerial.

Fred Otunnu, UCC acting director for broadcasting, explains that there are two types of broadcasting service packages that will be used and they include the free-to-air and pay TV. According to the guidelines, the free-to-air channels are those you receive without having to subscribe or pay a monthly fee to receive, for example, UBC, WBS, NTV, NBS, Record TV, Capital, Bukedde TV, Bunyoro TV, EATV, Family TV, Top TV, Kakira Sugar TV, Channel 44, Top TV, Urban TV, Northern TV, and TV WA.

The other option for the consumer is Pay TV, where someone has to subscribe and pay a subscription fee to watch the associated TV channels. Examples of this are Star Times, Dstv and Gotv. The charge for installing Pay-TV that uses a dish, for instance, ranges from Shs120,000 to Shs300,000 depending on the service provider.

Digital terrestrial transmission, via aerial, costs between Shs65,000 and Shs80,000 for installation. Dstv and StarTimes have embarked on massive preparation before the switch to digital migration is made.
Aldrine Nsubuga, the StarTimes marketing director believes that the migration will raise viewer numbers as more people will get access to quality TV signal.

Nsubuga says that Star Times, in order to cater for the masses has decided to go for the mass market approach where they have provided decoders for as low as Shs8,000, with a Nova package that a consumer can pay for.

With just a subscription fee of Shs6,000. The entry fee of the purchasing the decoder will cost a consumer Shs49,000 which has an attached condition of seven months of the Nova package. “We plan to give our consumers the best when it comes to digital migration and that is why we have opted for the mass marketing approach because we believe that we can make a turn over from the sales that we will make,” he adds.

Making the switch
Tina Wamala, public relations manager for MultiChoice Uganda says that the company has heavily invested in the switch to digital terrestrial migration by setting up transmission masts in different places in the regions to expand the Gotv signal. Also armed with a mass marketing approach, Wamala says that Gotv decoders will be sold for Shs60,000 with the month subscription included.

With the full kit installation of the GOTV at Shs89,000, she says that the consumer for Shs77,000 will be given an opportunity to watch without paying any subscription again to view the free-to-air stations.
“If you still wish to purchase the pay TV services then you will be required to pay additions for Shs25,000 or Shs18,000 for the TV package you wish to have,” she adds.

In the case of Dstv you can get a decoder from Shs160,000 to Shs515,000.
In order for the consumer to successfully make a switch the options are many. One can opt for the various options in the market like purchasing a set box, buying a integrated TV set or opting for the Pay TV service.
Another option is to purchase integrated digital TV that has an inbuilt digital tuner that allows the viewer to access the free to air channels.

In order to tell that your TV is digital you can check, the label of the set, the packaging (box), or the manual/literature and specifications that comes with the set. A set box costs Shs180,000 and the price for digital TV sets ranges from Shs800,000- Shs1.4m.