South Africa DSO on March 31
March 2, 2022
By Chris Forrester
South Africa has confirmed that its analogue television transmissions will end on March 31st. The process is more than 10 years behind the initial plan which was to see 80 per cent of the nation converted to digital in time for the FIFA World Cup which started in June 2010
The ending of analogue broadcasting will allow conversion to start on the shift to 4G and 5G cellular telephony. Communications minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, in a statement, proclaimed the final switch-off date, citing paragraph 3.3.1 of the Broadcasting Digital Migration Policy.
A spectrum auction, organised by regulator ICASA, is due to start next week on March 8th.
Much of South Africa has already switched off its analogue transmissions including the Free State, Norther Cape, North West Provence, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.