By Pluton16 (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The Malawian government is set to contract Chinese technology firm Huawei Technologies to install Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) equipment ahead of the planned switch from analogue to digital television broadcasting.
Dennis William Chirwa, digital migration co-coordinator at the Ministry of Information, told the Malawi News Agency the deal has not yet been finalised, but would determine the date on which the country would receive the DTT signal.
“Initial negotiations were done on May 11 and we expect to undertake further discussions soon and award the contract to Huawei Technologies,” Chirwa said.
Malawians will need to procure a set-top-box (STB) that will turn the digital signal into analogue so that it suits majority of the television sets.
“The country will open up as the network is being installed for the supply of STBs for the systems Malawians will have access to,” Chirwa said.
The Malawian government has also allowed the arrival of the network equipment to assess the compatibility of the system so that the quality of STBs is not compromised.
