Digital migration in Africa a hot topic, not a reality

Speaking at the inaugural Digital TV Summit, Thecla Mbongue, senior research analyst at the Informa Telecoms and Media Group told attendees that the 2015 digital migration deadline faces too many challenges in Africa to be a reality.

The primary obstacle to digital migration is affordability, which governments must solve before digital migration can take place, Mbongue said.

“Over the next years, digital migration will be a hot topic,” she said. “However, it will be a topic not a reality”

Mbongue went on to explain that migration will remain a topic until set-top box affordability issues are solved by the authorities, adding that the main obstacle to the digital switch-over is not achieving the necessary coverage and infrastructure, but developing realistic pricing solutions.

In particular, she says governments must decide on a solution to who will pay for set-top boxes, given the low incomes prevalent among many African societies; preventing digital television from becoming a reality.

Mbongue accepted that governments across Africa are active in the field of digital migration, noting that Nigerian authorities are “really very optimistic”, despite being at a very early stage on the road to migration – Nigeria having achieved 6 per cent digital coverage to date -, while conceding that South Africa is one of the leading countries across the continent having rolled out approximately 60 per cent digital coverage thus far.

With respect to Kenya, Mbongue said: “There really are a lot of activities by the authorities, there is a lot of marketing.” 

However, there is less than 5 per cent coverage in the country at the moment, hence her conclusion that there will not be 100 per cent digital coverage in Kenya by 2015.

As such, regarding the digital migration across the African continent, Mbongue concluded: “We think that a 2020 deadline is more realistic than 2015.”