technology & convergence

- In April 2012, Vodacom has bought set-top boxes from Altech’s Durban-based UEC subsidiary that are capable of delivering both fixed-line and wireless Internet protocol television (IPTV) services to consumers, apparently as part of an internal trial. Vodacom confirms it has bought two decoders for testing, company spokesman said.

- South Africa’s National Film and Video Foundation has launched a more engaging, more exciting and more informative website which went live on the 24th of April 2012.

Every night, something unusual happens in Samuel Kimani’s home on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. Samuel, 48, lives with his wife Mary and their three children. Their family supports itself day-to-day through their main source of income, their cow Baraka, whose milk is collected daily and sold directly to customers for about $1.80 a day. Their township has few amenities and grid electricity is available only to the few who can afford it. But at Samuel’s house, two bright lights shine all through the evening.

Kenya is set to import millions of digital video broadcasting (DVB) gadgets as the country seeks to comply with its 2012 deadline for migration from analogue to digital TV broadcasting.

The DVB-T2 set top boxes are gadgets that are fixed on analogue television sets to enable them receive digital transmission.

Without the devices, most viewers, especially in developing countries, will have their analogue television sets rendered obsolete.

- Between 2010 and 2013, investors will spend more on submarine cable systems in Africa than anywhere else in the world, a new report from TeleGeography shows. Investors are expected to pump almost US$2bn into new undersea cable systems serving Africa in 2012 and 2013, on top of the more than $1bn spent in 2010 and 2011.

When an Egyptian court fined former president Hosni Mubarak and two aides a total of 90 million dollars for cutting mobile and Internet services during protests that led to his ouster, it indicated the value placed on communication services in this Arab country.

The 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak in February 2011 was largely organised by groups creatively using social networking websites like Facebook and Internet radio. The fines were handed down three months later.

After years of rigorous debate, the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS) has finally issued the final draft minimum standard for the set-top box decoders that will be used to receive digital terrestrial television signals in SA. The draft spec outlines a basic receiver that does not include a return path for interactivity.

- Digital Depot, believed to be the first online electronics store catering to the film and media industry, has opened its first retail outlet in Cape Town – at the Northgate Estate business park near Paarden Island.

South African broadcasters e.tv and SABC have requested the regulator conducts a regulatory impact assessment before issuing new terrestrial television licenses in the advent of digital migration.

The free to air broadcaster e.tv has also asked the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) to limit the number of channels the Napster-owned M-Net will be allowed to operate, according to Business Day.

It said that the M-Net channel comprised content from its sister broadcaster, the pay-TV platform DStv, which hampered diversity and original content.

The Kenyan State is about to ban analog TV imports into the country in the next four months as a way of speeding up uptake of digital TVs locally, it has emerged.
 
Information and Communications Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo yesterday said that the move will help reduce use of analog TVs and help the country meet the June deadline for migration from analog to digital broadcasting. "The more we import these analog TVs the more we complicate uptake of the new technology," Ndemo said.

- Gambian network operator Netpage launched its 4G device last week. This is Gambia's first implementation of 4G and the device even went on sale before the official launch. Simon Abraham, Netpage CEO said the device aims to "deliver the service of the promise". He also said it is the next generation communications network and the "next stage of wireless evolution".