As industry prepares for the launch of South Africa’s digital terrestrial migration, the South African Communications Forum (SACF) hosted a workshop to determine the country’s readiness in terms of compliance of set-top boxes [STBs] and access to funding.

The workshop, held in Pretoria, on Wednesday, aimed to assess industry’s strengths and weaknesses, test the readiness of the sector, and close the gaps for a successful roll-out of the long-awaited digital terrestrial television (DTT) platform.

The workshop to align preparations for the DTT migration attracted representatives from the various electronic manufacturers – both SACF members and nonmembers – Sentech, the South African Post Office, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa and the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa, besides others.

“Despite the finalisation of the DTT policy currently being stymied, South African manufacturers - to be ready when [the] digital migration is launched - must urgently put [compliance] requirements in place. The workshop highlighted the urgency of the different government regulators and standards bodies streamlining the processes for [STB] approval and compliance,” explained SACF industrial development working group chairperson Muzi Makheye.

As elections loom in May, along with the subsequent and expected changes in government, the SACF planned to spend the next few days preparing a report based on the outcomes of the workshop to aid the next leaders to quickly understand and grasp the overall readiness of industry and what was needed to successfully kick off the migration without further delays.