Regulator sets new digital TV deadline

Viewers in Nairobi have until the end of this year to migrate to the digital platform or they will not be able to watch TV.

This is after the government set December 31 as the last day when analogue signals will be used in Nairobi and its environs, commencing the first phase of the switch to digital television.

The decision follows a Supreme Court ruling in September that compelled the Communications Authority of Kenya to open dialogue with media houses and agree on new switch over dates as well as possible award of a signal distribution licence.

The announcement was made by CAK Director General Francis Wangusi on the sidelines of a telecommunications conference on Tuesday.

“We have set December 31st as the deadline for digital migration in Nairobi. Consultations are still ongoing with stakeholders but players in the broadcast industry are expected to cooperate,” Mr Wangusi said.

A nationwide switch over is expected to be completed by March 2015, Mr Wangusi said.

The decision means that all households in the country will have to acquire a set-top box to continue enjoying their favourite programmes on TV.

A set-top box costs about Sh3,000 in Nairobi.

Consumers Federation of Kenya chairman Stephen Mutoro said the lobby backs the decision because many consumers are now ready to migrate.

“We are not opposed to the new dates. However, we had expected that the switch off in the other parts of the country would be done earlier than March as we had agreed in the stakeholder consultation forums,” Mr Mutoro said.

Media owners, however, told the Nation that they had not been duly consulted in setting the new timelines.

They said that stakeholders still had three more months as per the Supreme Court ruling.

The announcement comes barely a month after the government amended the law governing the communications sector, creating the legal framework for broadcasters to be awarded distribution licences.

THREE MONTHS

“The licensing of signal distribution providers shall take into consideration the need to optimise the utilisation of existing broadcasting infrastructure. The Communications Authority of Kenya shall consider the merits of issuance of other broadcast signal distribution and self-provisioning licences,” noted Information and Communication Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i in the new regulations published in the Kenya Gazette.

The Supreme Court judges, in the ruling delivered on September 29, gave the communications regulator 90 days to consider the merits of issuing a licence to Nation Media Group, Standard Group, Royal Media Services or any other local investor.