Second phase of digital migration starts Monday

What you need to know:

  • Monday’s switch-over comes on the back of a survey that indicated that more than half of Kenyans are still lagging behind in digital migration.

Television viewers in 14 regions including Nairobi will still be able to view stations belonging to the three leading media houses without having to buy decoders as the digital switch-over moves to its second phase from Monday midnight.

A statement from the Communications Authority (CA) said:

“The migration from analogue to digital is on and the second phase of the migration shall from February 2 cover Mombasa, Malindi, Nyeri, Meru, Kisumu, Webuye, Kakamega, Kisii, Nakuru, Eldoret, Nyahururu, Machakos, Narok and Londiani.

“The third and final phase will take place on March 30, 2015 and will cover Garissa, Kitui, Lodwar, Lokichoggio, Kapenguria, Kabarnet, Migori, Voi (Vuria), Mbwinzau/Kibwezi, Namanga and all other remaining sites.”

Monday’s switch-over comes on the back of a survey that indicated that more than half of Kenyans are still lagging behind in digital migration because they are unaware of the deadlines or are hampered by the high price of the decoders or set-top boxes which is still too high.

The survey released recently by GeoPoll shows that 56 per cent of Kenyans have not migrated, while 18 percent said they will wait for a year to switch over.