Lack of affordable set-top boxes in the market has stood in the
way of the country’s ambitious plan to completely migrate from analogue
to digital television by the end of this year.
Speaking to Nation, the Communications Commission
of Kenya assistant director for multi-media services, Mr Alfred Ambani,
who also sits in the Digital Television Committee said the digital
signal is already available in Nairobi but the switch over is difficult
due to lack of set-top boxes in the market.
He added that the committee has written to Treasury
requesting for duty waivers on importation of the gadgets to encourage
traders to flood the market with them, which will lower their cost.
“We have had several meetings with Treasury and the
progress is positive. If this goes through, the country can see a full
migration by end of this year,” he said.
Mr Ambani said the migration has adopted a new
model where different regions will experience the switch over at
different times instead of a national deadline.
“There is no point of setting national deadlines
and failing to meet them every time. We need to be realistic and
approach this process with an open mind,” he said.
Nairobi will be the first region to complete the
migration by the end of this year, followed by other cities before the
rural areas.
“However, availability of the gadgets will determine the success and time of this migration.”
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