Minister promises ‘consultations’ after concourt drubbing

Communications minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has promised to consult with the broadcasting industry about a new analogue switch-off date. This comes after she last week lost a high-stakes battle in the constitutional court with e.tv over broadcast digital migration.

The apex court set aside the high court’s decision that analogue broadcasts could be switched off at the end of last month, saying not enough had been done to protect indigent households from being cut off from free-to-air television services.

The minister said she will on Friday publish a public notice in the Government Gazette setting 30 September 2022 as the new closing date for applications and registrations for government-subsidised set-top boxes for qualifying indigent households. This, she said, is the “final deadline and no applications will be considered after this date”.

On a new analogue switch-off (ASO) date, Ntshavheni said only that she will “commence consultations with the affected parties”.

She said the SABC’s analogue signals remain switched off in five provinces, namely the Free State, Northern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, as previously communicated.

“This enabled [state-owned broadcasting signal distributor] Sentech to complete the ‘restacking’ of spectrum bands for completion of digital migration in the five provinces,” she said, adding that communications regulator Icasa is continuing with the release of broadband spectrum auctioned in March in these provinces.

“The release of the spectrum in the five migrated provinces will enable the telecommunications network operators to decongest the networks with the deployment of 4G and 5G networks. However, until such time that ASO is achieved Gauteng, the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, digital migration cannot be completed, and the auctioned spectrum cannot be released,” she said.  — © 2022 NewsCentral Media

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