Malawi, Japan hint at digital migration roll out

Malawi Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu has said government cannot give specific dates for the launch of digital broadcasting network because it still has work to do before launching the digital network.

The remarks contradict government’s earlier stand that it expected to launch the digital network by March this year after tendering for procure.

“The process has delayed because there was gradual movement in the past. The problem is money. We also have to consider that digitalising the system should not cut out the end users in terms of receiving television signals because everybody will be required to have a digital decoder to continue watching TV,” said Kunkuyu in an interview on Sunday.

“If we had all the money, we would do the process within eight months,” said Kunkuyu.

Meanwhile, Japan says Malawi must consider adopting Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting Terrestrial (ISDB-T) standard as it migrates to digital television.

Deputy Head of Mission in the Japanese Embassy, Shigenobu Kobayashi, said in a press statement that ISDB-T has already been adopted by Botswana as its Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT).

The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) has set a deadline of 2015 for all broadcasters to digitise their