Botswana: Digital migration taken to people

The team recently visited Thamaga to educate residents about what digital migration was. One of the team members, Kegomoditwe Kegapetswenyana said going digital was a global decision that commenced on the 17 June.

She said what was delaying the process was waiting for the decoder known as the set top box.

Image via 123RF

"The set top box do not have authorised dealers yet as BOCRA is the one responsible for it," she said, adding that once the decoder was out, BOCRA would communicate with the public about the price and how to access them.

Kegapetswenyana warned residents to watch out for people who might claim to sell the decoders. She added that the price was not yet agreed upon, and that the decoder would be designed in a way that when you install it, the signal would automatically pick up.

She said there were places where the signal was not yet there, but that it would be installed in time. She added that the digital migration does not mean that people would have to buy new television as the decoder would work even with old television sets.

As for the benefits, she said it would be more clear in the picture quality and sound, adding that there would be room for more local production, and the ability to receive disaster warnings

She said they would start with Btv and E-Botswana and that BTV1, 2, 3 would follow later.