DoC plans to manufacture STBs locally

Engineering News reports that the Department of Communications (DoC) has requested information from local manufacturing companies who may be interested in producing set-top boxes (STBs), which many South Africans will need in order to watch television when the country switches to digital terrestrial television broadcasting.

13 Apr 2012

Potential manufacturers had until April 30 to respond.

Communications Minister Dina Pule said that the DoC aimed to use its digital migration policy to facilitate the entry of 1 000 small, medium and micro enterprises into the electronics manufacturing sector and enable them to compete or cooperate with existing, larger electronics manufacturers. The local manufacture of STBs is the second phase of a three-phase project, which included the simultaneous rollout of the physical broadcasting network equipment and the distribution of STBs.

Following a number of delays in the migration from analogue broadcasting to digital terrestrial television broadcasting, the DoC aims to launch digital migration in the third quarter of this year. Analogue transmission would be switched off on December 31, 2013. Originally, this was to have occurred during November 2011, Engineering News says.

Read the full article on www.engineeringnews.co.za.