CC image courtesy of MASA
Uganda is set to switch on its digital broadcasting signal in the next days after the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) announced its signal is being tested in Kololo.
The equipment was installed last month and the signal is now being test at the Kololo Transmission Summit.
The regulator’s director, Godfrey Mutabazi, confirmed on Wednesday that for the launch the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) will be signal distributor because it has ready-made infrastructure.
The government however is considering reviewing its policy to allow other distributors, reports Red Pepper.
No specific pay TV service provider has been contracted to supply the set-top boxes to receive the digital signal, but all players are free to enter the market as long as they provide ample services to customers.
The Ugandan government initially gave a tax waiver of 25 per cent import duty for the importation of set-top boxes, which ran from June 2012 to June 2013 but players in the industry argued that the uptake by the public does not reflect the urgency in the switch.
Simon Arineitwe, the Star Times country marketing manager, said the public should be sensitised enough on the decoders before the deadline, especially with the digital transmission using two different systems of broadcasting.
Mutabazi said that the migration is expected to provide Ugandans with a range of benefits, including clearer sound and picture together with variety of content.
Many pay TV providers have embarked on price reduction strategies for their products and packages in an effort to overtake the Chinese owned StarTimes which is the current market leader in Uganda.
The five East African Community (EAC) member states had agreed to complete the digital migration process by the end of last year, three years earlier than the 2015 world deadline but coupled with government policies and in-fighting between the regulators and lobbies other East African states have postponed their rollouts.
