A grouping of aspirant black manufacturers says it and organised labour plan to contest a cabinet decision to adopt a European digital terrestrial television broadcasting standard.
Keith Thabo, the chairman of the National Association of Manufacturers in Electronics Components (Namec), said yesterday that the organisations would challenge the adoption of Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial (DVB-T2), a second-generation standard, because its introduction would fail to achieve the optimum socioeconomic impact.
He said the groups favoured a Japanese standard, which is also used in Brazil, for South Africa’s migration from analogue to digital television broadcasting, which has to be completed by 2015.
Namec is concerned that commercial broadcasters e.tv and M-Net, and decoder manufacturers Altech and Reunert, who claim to have spent millions on trials of the European standard, would be the only commercial beneficiaries if South Africa adopted DVB-T2.
Thabo said: “We’ve got reports from Brazil that can prove the socioeconomic impact of choosing one standard over the other.
“The only people to benefit from the European standard are MultiChoice and e.tv. What about community broadcasters and software developers?
“We will be going back to the provinces to mobilise community-based organisations on the impact of the standards.”
Online publication TechCentral reported this week that the cabinet took the decision in December after a recommendation from a Southern African Development Community task team that was appointed to review the two standards.
Communications Minister Roy Padayachie is expected to announce the government’s decision when he returns from leave later this month. His spokesman, Tiyani Rikhotso, did not return calls yesterday.
The government initially opted for the European digital standard several years ago, but did an about-turn in April last year, when it undertook its own review of the Japanese standard following extensive lobbying by Japanese and Brazilian government officials.
Thabo said Namec, Cosatu, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the Communication Workers Union wanted Padayachie to change the cabinet decision and their representatives would meet the minister this month.
However, Irvin Jim, the general secretary of Numsa, said the union had not yet taken a position on the matter, but was interested in the revival of a once booming South African electronics industry.
The union would conduct information-sharing workshops this month.
“Once we are on top of it we will hold discussions with the minister,” Jim said.
Kate Skinner, the co-ordinator of the Save Our SABC campaign, of which Cosatu is a member, said the coalition of activist organisations was still debating the issue.
“Up until now it appeared the European standard allowed for cheaper set-top boxes,” Skinner said. “If you don’t have cheap set-top boxes then digital migration is not going work.”
The Japanese embassy said that it would comment once the minister of communications had made an official announcement on the matter.
Gustavo Rosas, the head of science and technology at the Brazilian embassy in South Africa, said: “We respect the decision of the South African government, but from our side the door is not closed.” - Business Report