South Africa will switch to digital broadcasting from November next year as it gears up for the 2010 soccer World Cup, the government said on Thursday. “(The cabinet) approved that the digital signal be switched on, on the 1st November 2008, and that the analogue signal be switched off on 1st November 2011,” the government said in a statement following a cabinet meeting this week.
South Africa needs to beef up its broadcasting capacity ahead of 2010, when it will be the first African country to host the prestigious soccer championship. A report to Parliament’s Communications Portfolio Committee last year said the country’s ageing analogue broadcast infrastructure was not capable of beaming the tournament around the world.
The Trade and Industry department would discuss the conversion to digital technology with television manufacturers and retailers, the statement said.
(Source: Reuters/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)