Botswana ISDB-T: Botswana sets March 2016 as new DTT deadline

The migration to DTT from analogue TV transmission is on track and will connect villages across the country, Deputy permanent secretary for Information and Broadcasting Services, Mogomotsi Kaboeamodimo told reporters.

The project management team are working with Japanese experts and the Botswana Communication Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) to ensure a successful phased transition to digital broadcasting, he told BOPA.

The government has committed BWP260 million towards DTT migration in the two-year period from 2014, Kaboeamodimo added. Funds will be used to purchase production and transmission equipment, content, training and skills development, and infrastructure upgrades. These will include gap-filling, integrated services, and a second channel for national broadcaster BTV.

Botswana was the first country in Africa to use the Japanese digital broadcasting standard ISDB-T, when it switched on its first DTT signals in July 2013. Most of its Southern African neighbours have opted for the European digital broadcasting standard DVB-T2.