15 Dec 2019

 Chobe District will join Maun and Ghanzi to migrate from analogue to digital transmission, chief broadcasting engineer in the Department of Broadcasting Services (DBS), Mr Calvin Goiletswe has said.

In an interview, Mr Goiletswe said DBS, in conjunction with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), conducted a survey from December 9-13 whose results would determine when the switch off will effect.

He said a team of 94 Chobe youth had been engaged to conduct the survey, in the form of questionnaires, in all the 10 villages of the district, revealing that the DBS and JICA would analyse the outcome of the survey to establish how many people will be affected by the switch off.

Mr Goiletswe explained that digital migration would require users to purchase set top boxes, which the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) having  certified 10 companies to sell.

He said four of the 10 companies were already active and two were accompanying JICA and DBS to market and sell the set top boxes.

He said with digital transmission, the viewers would have better quality sound and good quality pictures, more channels and diverse interactivity compared to the analogue transmission.

He further said once a viewer had purchased the set top box, there would be no subscriptions required. 

Mr Goiletswe said the digital technology would be an advantage as android phone users will be able access television on their handsets, provided they purchase a dongle in order to receive digital signal, adding that one of the companies that sells set top boxes already has the dongles.

He noted that the analogue switch off in Maun, Ghanzi and Chobe marks the DBS’ plan to switch off the whole country by 2022. 

He said after Chobe, the team will head on to Tsabong areas for the same exercise.

Meanwhile, the DBS engineering team together with JICA consultant Mr Satoshi Hamanaka presented to the Chobe district full council meeting, met dikgosi in all the villages and addressed a kgotla meeting in Mabele on the anticipated digital migration exercise. Ends