Malawi to meet the June 17 digital migration deadline - Minister

The statement was made in Parliament on Friday in Parliament when he delivered a ministerial statement on the update on digital migration.

Nankhumwa said under the new system, the country will switch off from analogue to digital Terrestrial Television (DDT) broadcasting in compliance to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) resolution which requires all members to migrate to digital Television by June 17.

The minister hailed the Malawi government for being among the first four countries to comply with the resolution. The other three countries are Namibia, Tanzania and Mauritius.

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He then appealed to members of the house to partner with government in creating awareness in digital broadcasting to ensure adequate understanding on digital migration among all Malawians. He further asked traders not to dupe consumers.

"Let me ask traders not to take advantage of the consumers lack of knowledge on digital migration to dupe them when buying the equipment", he said.

In his response to questions from some members of the house, Nankhumwa said when the analogue system is switched off, television viewers will not be able to access television transmission until they acquire a DVB-T2 compliant Set Box which the government has subsidized to enable many to access.

According to Nankhumwa once this digital gadget has been acquired and installed, one will not need to make monthly payments to service providers as is the case with other providers such as Multichoice and Go TV.

On the advantages of the migration to people and the nation as a whole, Nankhumwa said there will be more efficient transmission that allows television stations broadcast improved sound and quality, as well as more channel accessibility giving the viewer a wider choice.

Digital migration, according to the minister, is a process through which broadcasting services offered on analogue platform are transferred to digital signals. He said the main purpose of the migration process is to ensure that all analogue services are replicated on the digital networks with the view to switching off the analogue signal at some point in time.

While the transmission from analogue to digital broadcasting is applicable to both radio and Television, the migration process according to the statement, will first involve television broadcasting only.