02 Mar 2020

 Pandamatenga hosted the switch off of the analogue terrestrial television broadcasting in the whole of Chobe District on Saturday.

Launching the switch from analogue to digital, acting district commissioner, Ms Seele Chapata said the digital migration was a national project that was set to transform Botswana.

She said it was born out of recognition of the need to free up space in the frequency spectrum to enable achievement of the information technology communication (ICT) service and for more television channels that could not be catered for in the analogue environment.

Ms Chapata said digital migration dated back to 2006 when the International Television Union (ITU), to which all members of the UN including Botswana belonged, took a bold decision to swift from analogue to digital.

She explained that in 2014, SADC member states also made commitment to move from analogue to digital and that Botswana started the transformation in 2016.

Ms Chapata said two pilot projects were conducted in Ghanzi and Maun and they proved that Botswana was ready to migrate, hence the switch off in the Chobe District.

She explained that moving from analogue to digital presented an opportunity for the country to strengthen Botswana Television (Btv) viewership through additional services and content for both local and international viewers, and going forward

She said the transformation positioned Botswana for sustained growth in the digital age by serving as a key catalyst in achieving economic and social transformation, among other benefits.

Ms Chapata appealed to Batswana to migrate by buying set top boxes because digital migration had many benefits such as quality sound and pictures.

However, she said those who were still receiving Btv signal through Satellite TV broadcasting devices that include DSTV, PHILIBAO, OVHD (Free to air) would not be affected by the switch-off, but encouraged them to switch to the new model.

Btv chief broadcasting engineer and digital migration coordinator, Mr Calvin Goiletswe told residents that a survey was conducted in the Chobe District prior to the switch off that proved that the district was ready to move from analogue to digital.

He said having discovered that only a few households in the district were using open view, the Department of Broadcasting Services hired three companies to conduct public awareness prior to the switch off and also to issue set top boxes to the affected households.  

These companies, all belonging to locals, are Datamined, Blu Melrose and Sarona.

In his welcome remarks, Kgosi David Mafikizolo of Pandamatenga applauded the Department of Broadcasting Services to have chosen his village as the host of the switch launch, adding that such a gesture highlighted his village in the global map.

In an interview, Kgosi Jesther Amos said she was happy because all the companies that were involved in the switch belonged to Batswana and as such created employment for young Batswana, Pandamatenga included.

Meanwhile, a survey that was conducted in December 2019 had shown that approximately 200 households in the Chobe District were still receiving the analogue terrestrial television signal for watching Btv.

In this regard, the Department of Broadcasting Services with the aid of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will donate set top boxes to the 200 households to enable them to continue to watch Btv.

Botswana has chosen the Japanese originated Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (ISDB-T) standard, for implementing digital TV, among others.

 

Botswana’s choice for the ISDB-T system, was made after extensive research and comparative tests with DVB-T2 by the government and non-governmental engineers with assistance of reputable institutions. ENDS