Court stops analogue TV switch off

The High Court has stopped the switch off of the analogue broadcasting signal until an application filed by a consumer lobby is determined.

The case was filed by the Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) in December last year seeking to block the government’s intention to switch off the analogue signal in Nairobi before the global deadline set for June 2015.

On Friday, Justice Isaac Lenaola said the digital migration if effected immediately would be unfair to Kenyans, who are keen to follow the General Election on TV.

Justice Lenaloa urged the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) and Cofek to agree to an amicable deadline preferably after the March 4 voting.

In its suit, Cofek claimed that the consumers and the general public’s right to information would be severely infringed because the price of the machines required to convert the digital signal to a format compatible with the analogue TV sets remains prohibitive.

“We still do not understand the reasoning behind the rush to switch off the analogue signal as early as 2012 when the deadline is 2015.

"We are not sure consumers are ready for the switch as yet and we are hoping the court will rule in favour of the consumers,” Cofek secretary general Steve Mutoro said.

CCK director general Francis Wangusi said the country needs to go ahead with the switch off as soon as possible to allow for resulting hitches to be corrected before the global cutover date of June 2015.

“We hope the dispute can be resolved as quickly as possible so that we go ahead with the project, it is important for the whole country,” Mr Wangusi said.

Additional reporting Charles Wokabi