It is already been described locally as the “digital stand-off” but the bitter dispute between a trio of analogue broadcasters in Kenya, and regulator Communication Authority of Kenya (CA), will be heard in a Kenyan court room today (February 25th). The CA was last week given five days to respond to the suit by activist […]

Despite claims made in Kenya that up to 40 African nations will miss the ITU’s analogue switch-off deadline of June 17th, officials in Nigeria have stated unequivocally that Nigeria will be broadcasting completely in digital by June. Pay-TV broadcaster StarTimes said the nation, and its bouquets, are ready for digital broadcasting. StarTimes now have 4 […]

The ITU is reported to be permitting 30 African countries to slip past its ‘absolute deadline’ of June 30th this year to switch off analogue TV transmissions. According to Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper, the date extensions apply to some major African nations not least Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. An ITU spokesman, speaking exclusively to […]

North Korea’s adoption of digital terrestrial TV and HDTV is now complete. The last transmitter was switched over on February 9th.  Standard definition transmissions have also ceased. The country’s state-backed broadcaster Korean Central Television’s transmissions are now only available in digital HDTV terrestrially and on satellite (from Thaicom 5). BBC Monitoring is reporting that North […]

Uganda’s Communications Commission (UCC) has issued a “final warning” to the country’s citizens that in barely 3 months it would be switching off its analogue TV transmissions.  The nation has a huge uphill task given that there are only an estimated 300,000 digital STBs in use, and some 4.7 million TV homes still to be […]

Eutelsat Communications has signed a multi-year agreement with RPO RMTR, the public broadcaster of the Kyrgyz Republic, that will accelerate the country’s switch to a fully digital broadcasting environment. RPO RMTR is using the high-power service area of the Eutelsat 70B satellite to broadcast a free-to-air platform of national channels to DTT towers and direct […]

Reports out of Manila suggest that the Philippines will badly miss the June 2015 ITU-mandated digital switchover.  The country’s National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) admits that it might not even make a 2020 date. Alvin Bernard Blanco, chief of the NTC’s Broadcast Services Division, told local press that the switch-over could take another 5-10 years, and […]

Following the release of draft opinions by the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) on the future of the UHF band in the EU and on the Common Policy Objectives for WRC (World Radio Conference), Broadcast Network Europe (BNE) – trade organisation for Terrestrial Broadcast Network Operators for Radio and TV in Europe – is continuing […]

Digital Audio Broadcasting in the UK is set to expand following an agreement between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the BBC, broadcast infrastructure provider Arqiva, and the Multiplex Operators jointly to fund the expansion costs of extending the local DAB network towards commercial ILR FM equivalence. Dates have also been set out […]

The process of converting Kenya to all-digital TV transmissions has been beset by delays, with frequent legal challenges from broadcasters arguing that the nation was not yet ready for digital TV. A ‘final’ deadline date for the important Nairobi region was made for December 31st, but this was stymied with a last-minute legal intervention which […]