坦桑尼亚计划在2014年模拟信号转数字广播
Tanzania's second phase of digital broadcasting switchover from analogue for all regions will be done in 2014, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) announced on Wednesday.
TCRA director general John Nkomo said the countrywide digital switchover will be done after assessment of the first phase of the process which involved only Tanzania's major cities.
Nkomo said the switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting was one of the major achievements made by TCRA during its 10 years of existence.
He said other TCRA achievements included the introduction of license of convention of communication services with other sectors such as banks and mobile money transfers.
By December 2012, more than 250,000 TV sets in Dar es Salaam which has a population of about 4.5 million were connected to digital broadcasting through satellite and cable systems. The global deadline for going digital is 2015.
A recent survey showed that more than 50 percent of residents in Dar es Salaam faulted authorities move to switch off analogue television transmission in late 2012, saying the shift to digital has resulted in poor quality of signal.
The survey by Uwazi/Twaweza, an initiative that seeks to have access to timely, reliable, relevant and easy to understand information and analyses, said that costs of digital decoders and monthly subscription fees were also major impediments to the shift.
Tanzania became the first country in East Africa to switch to digital television signal, having discontinued analogue transmission on December 31, 2012, becoming the only member of the East African Community (EAC) to adhere to the deadline for digital migration that had been agreed upon by members.
The survey found that a clear majority expressed their disapproval of the move to discontinue analogue transmission as 59 percent of current digital subscribers would prefer the government to provide both digital and analogue television.
