Tanzania's second phase of digital broadcasting switchover from analogue for all regions will be done in 2014, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) announced on Wednesday.
TCRA director general John Nkomo said the countrywide digital switchover will be done after assessment of the first phase of the process which involved only Tanzania's major cities.
Nkomo said the switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting was one of the major achievements made by TCRA during its 10 years of existence.
He said other TCRA achievements included the introduction of license of convention of communication services with other sectors such as banks and mobile money transfers.
By December 2012, more than 250,000 TV sets in Dar es Salaam which has a population of about 4.5 million were connected to digital broadcasting through satellite and cable systems. The global deadline for going digital is 2015.
A recent survey showed that more than 50 percent of residents in Dar es Salaam faulted authorities move to switch off analogue television transmission in late 2012, saying the shift to digital has resulted in poor quality of signal.
The survey by Uwazi/Twaweza, an initiative that seeks to have access to timely, reliable, relevant and easy to understand information and analyses, said that costs of digital decoders and monthly subscription fees were also major impediments to the shift.
Tanzania became the first country in East Africa to switch to digital television signal, having discontinued analogue transmission on December 31, 2012, becoming the only member of the East African Community (EAC) to adhere to the deadline for digital migration that had been agreed upon by members.
The survey found that a clear majority expressed their disapproval of the move to discontinue analogue transmission as 59 percent of current digital subscribers would prefer the government to provide both digital and analogue television.
簡明釋義：在這個數字信號普及的時代，昨晚第三世界的坦桑尼亞,也是計劃在2014年前完成從模儗信號全部轉換為數字信號。不過，這項惠民舉動也引來了51%的噹地民眾反對，因為他們習慣了用模儗信號看電視，新的數字信號影響了他們的電視質量。
