South African broadcasters M-Net, e.tv and SABC have welcomed the announcement by Communications Minister Roy Padaychie on 14 January confirming that the DVB-T2 (Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial 2) standard with MPEG 4 compression will be used for the country’s migration to digital terrestrial television (DTT).
Dave Hagen, head of M-Net’s DTT Project, confirmed that the broadcaster is delighted with the DVB-T2 decision. “We cannot even contemplate the issues that would have been evident if the government had selected ISDB-T (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial), the Japanese standard punted by former Minister of Communications Siphiwe Nyanda. Going with DVB-T2 is a world class decision. Well done to the 12 SADC countries that also adopted the standard.”
E.tv head of Regulatory Affairs Lara Kantor adds: “We are very happy with the DoC’s decision and believe that it is the right move. Our DVB-T2 trials have proved that it is a very solid platform and we have had a positive response from the 60 households in Soweto participating in the trials. E.tv looks forward to working with the minister and his department, the other broadcasters and the manufacturing industry in rolling out DTT across South Africa.”
DVB-T2 will put South Africa at the forefront of DTT technology according to Richard Waghorn, Chief Techonology Officer of public broadcaster SABC. “It is the latest generation technology and is much more spectrum efficient than the first generation DVB-T and even ISDB-T. DVB-T2 provides increased capacity, and therefore enables more services on the DTT platform, including the accommodation of HD services. Other developing countries such as Kenya and India have already adopted DVB-T2.”
Read more in the February 2011 issue of Screen Africa
