Analog to digital migration

As mandated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the South African government is currently undertaking a process to migrate the transmission of analog television signals to digital. The South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC) after an initial dispute with the country's Communications Minister on the proposed date for the analog switch-off, has now accepted the Gauteng High Court’s order to begin the process on 31 June 2022. However, with just 165,000 Set-Top-Boxes (STB) supplied out of the remaining 2.9 million impoverished homes eligible for STBs, the SABC remains worried that turning off the analog TV signal before these families receive their STBs may jeopardize its public mission. In this episode of iAfrikan BYTES, Siphumelele Zondi, host and senior producer of Network, the SABC's flagship technology show, joins us to explore the broadcaster's stance on the issue.