Digital migration delays still bug SA years later

While South Africa’s long-delayed digital migration project continues to linger, valuable spectrum remains locked up in outdated plansand there is no clear end in sight, say analysts.

The International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU’s) deadline for migration, when it ceased to protect analogue broadcast, was mid-June 2015.

However, the South African government missed the ITU’s deadline as well as several self-imposed deadlines, with the broadcast digital migration (BDM) project chugging along over the years.

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During this time, the project has faced several controversies and hurdles, including litigation, switch-up of set-top box (STB) standards, leadership changes within the communications ministry, disgruntled STB installers, pressure from free-to-air broadcasters and low registration turnout.

Last year, government was dealt another blow when courts suspended the final analogue switch-off (ASO), which is part of the BDM project.

Arthur Goldstuck, CEOof World Wide Worx, says digital migration is no longer about modernising TV.It is now about closing a chapter that should have ended a decade ago. “Thelong delays turned a necessary infrastructure upgrade into policy inertia.

“Digital TV still has value for households without affordable broadband, but streaming, mobile video and satellite have already leapfrogged the original idea. The real damage is that we’re holding onto an obsolete plan.

“South Africa now faces the worst of both worlds: clinging to an outdated roadmap while delaying the release of spectrum that is far more critical to the digital economy than TV broadcasting itself.”

A limited and natural resource, spectrum is considered the “lifeblood” of mobile connectivity and digital innovation.

Migrating from analogue to digital TV formed an important part of making available the sub-1GB radio frequency spectrum bands, which were licensed during the R14.4 billion spectrum auction in March 2022.

The analogue signals below the 694MHz frequency bands remain unvacated, as they continue to host digital terrestrial television (DTT), ensuring households without broadband still have access to TV services.

Mark Walker, director attech-focused consultancy T4i, highlights that the objective of digital migration was to provide digital access via STBs to less fortunate communities.

This, he notes, has failed miserably and these communities source broadcast television via satellite or other mobile or IP-based services.

“Looking at the proliferation of satellite dishes across informal settlements, one would be hard pressed to conclude that all these households are served by the STBs provided under digital migration auspices. Furthermore, the delays result in poor spectrum planning, which will affect provision of digital services in future.”

According to Walker, the digital migration delays have caused irreparable damage to the STB manufacturing and digital media industries.

Furthermore, he notes, this has resulted in “much-wasted effort in terms of consequent legal battles and wasted government effort and expenditures”, which was “largely due to poor government oversight and lack of accountability”.

On the communications department side, it previously voiced that registration turnout has been lacklustre, contributing to delays in BDM’s implementation over the years.

In 2020, it was revealedthat government-subsidised STBs are stored in SA Post Office warehouses at a cost of R5.1 million a month, amounting to R60 million per annum.

Whether there is still a need for the project given all the hurdles, Walker points out that DTT is nearing end of life as a technology and is increasingly being replaced with direct-to-home (DTH) or 5G/IPTV solutions. “This is therefore not a technological decision, but rather driven by SABC and eMedia concerns about loss of advertising revenues.

“Given that mobile smartphone penetration across all sectors – even in the poorer segments of the South African population – has increased substantially, in tandem with cheaper phones and lower data prices, the trend is towards DTH or IP-based television access. Investment in DTT is no longer viable.”

The communications department,which is overseeing the country’s digital migration, says following the March 2025 court ruling which interdicted the ASO, the focus remains on completing installations of STBs for registered indigent households.

In a written Parliamentary reply, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) reveals that as of 14 November 2025, 98 152 registered households remained, against a target of 447 815.

Completion of the remaining installations is planned by the end of the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, 31 March.

In a response to ITWeb’s questions, the DCDT says BDM operations are in “full swing”, with STB installers connecting registered, qualifying indigent households.

However, climate change and disasters such as floods and heavy rains have an adverse impact on the pace of the project.

Additionally, challenges related to crime and safety risks in certain areas continue to impose security concerns and threat to installers, it states.

“Despite these challenges, the BDM programme has not stopped. Work is continuing, and the department is working closely with municipalities and local partners to improve beneficiary verification processes, strengthen coordination on the ground, and ensure qualifying households are located timeously, with the clear objective of accelerating installations and ensuring the programme reaches the intended beneficiaries.”