Legal proceedings over South Africa’s long-delayed Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) programme continue to hold up the analogue television switch-off, but the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies has now set a new three-month timeline to map out the completion of the programme.
The committee said on Tuesday that it will reconvene within three months to receive the scope and terms of reference for completing BDM, as pressure grows to resolve the delays that have kept the country running analogue and digital television services simultaneously.
The continued dual illumination is allegedly placing an additional financial burden on the state, with the committee warning that a sustainable solution is needed to bring the migration process to finality.
Committee chairperson Khusela Sangoni-Diko expressed concern that disagreements over the implementation of BDM had once again ended up in court.
“It is unfortunate that this matter is before the courts again when efforts should have been made to resolve the disagreements through engagement and negotiation,” Diko said.
She said the committee would use its next meeting to consider the terms of reference required to move the programme towards completion.
“There needs to be a resolution on the cost of ongoing dual illumination. We also need a sustainable and agreed path towards completing the migration process, while ensuring that the legitimate concerns raised by stakeholders are properly addressed,” Diko said.
The committee said it received progress presentations from the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Sentech, the Media Development and Diversity Agency and other stakeholders.
The analogue switch-off remains subject to legal proceedings following the suspension of the process.
Free-to-air broadcasters have reportedly indicated their support for BDM but want all affected stakeholders to be properly consulted on a mutually agreed switch-off date. They have also called for clarity on how the costs of continued dual illumination will be shared.
The BDM programme began in 2008, with 1 November 2011 originally set as the deadline for switching off analogue television services.
That deadline has since been revised several times, leaving South Africa’s digital migration programme unfinished more than a decade after the original target date.
