Kagiso Media has warned the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) the migration to digital broadcasting could become irrelevant and limit new industry players to compete should the current delays continue.
Omar Essack, chief executive officer (CEO) of Kagiso Media, expressed this warning at yesterday’s public hearing regarding draft regulations on draft diversity and completion of digital television.
Furthermore, Essack said it is crucial to to promote pro-competitiveness in order to ensure new licensees’ sustainability.
“We’ve seen with previous licensees how important pro-competitive measures like access to premium content are for newcomers,” said Essack, who believes the lack of access to sport is part of the reason TopTV has experienced one crisis after another.
Kagiso Media is of the opinion ICASA must make available equitable access to new industry players and set-top boxes should offer interoperability as well as “open-window” broadcast periods for new pay-TV operators, which will allow them to broadcast to non-subscribers for a specific number of hours.
Other suggestions by Kagiso Media include the licensing of a new pay-TV operator before September this year, so it may begin broadcasting by January next year, a new free-to-air broadcaster up and running by June 2015, and quotas reviewed for local content with existing quotas enforced only on incumbents.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation of South Africa (SABC) has requested that before newcomers are given licenses ICASA conduct regulatory assessments, which will identify the impact it will have on the broadcaster as well as other incumbent broadcasters.
The SABC believes timing is crucial for competition and new broadcasters should not be introduced while analogue and digital signals exist together. The SABC also believes ICASA should focus on digital migration rather than introducing new competition.
William Currie, an ICASA councillor, highlighted the fact that by the completion impact assessment, the “landscape” would have changed. He added the youth market will have stopped watching broadcasting television by 2018, preferring streaming and other online services.
e.tv believes the previous delays to the future implementation of digital bradcasting has rendered the broadcaster, together with the SABC, unable to offer multi channel bouquets.
Another concern about digital broadcasting was raised by Lara Kantor, e.tv’s regulatory affairs group executive. She said digital television cannot support high definition channels because the frequency spectrum is limited.
Regarding competition and newcomers Kantor said a competitive process between current broadcasters and new industry players will probably lead to “commercially viable services that meet public interest goals.”
