This month, the imminent arrival of digital TV in South Africa has been hailed as an “exciting” development in the media, and the first digital transmitters were switched on as part of a phased migration that will take us to full service by November 2011.

However, there is still uncertainty over the cost of the set-top boxes we will need to buy in order to continue watching TV once the migration from analogue is complete. The broadcasters are lobbying the government to lower the price of the boxes and offer less sophisticated boxes to keep costs down. Digital services will start coming online in the middle of next year, with the analogue service being switched off in November 2011.

Business Day reported on 7 November 2008 that broadcasters are lobbying for set-top boxes to be as cheap as possible to smooth the migration to digital terrestrial TV. The SA government is proposing that a set-top box which includes interactive features and e-government services retail for around R700. Broadcasters, however, question the need for the additional features and say that a basic box could cost around R500. The government has agreed a 70% subsidy to the poorest households which would bring the cost of their box down to R210 – which may still be too pricey for many South Africans.

At this juncture, it’s worth reminding ourselves that the duties of a public broadcaster go beyond commercialism and encompass education, sports, politics and culture. This is why it is important to ensure that sectors of our society don’t get disenfranchised through lack of access to TV broadcasts.

For more, read the news article on the getclosure! site.