ITU rules out digital TV deadline extension

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has ruled out any deadline extension for countries that will fail to meet the June 17, 2015 transition from analogue to digital TV broadcasting.

Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said during a visit to Kenya, “we knew it was doable when we set the migration deadline in 2005. The benefits of the migration exercise to both consumers as well as broadcasters are also enormous.”

Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria, Cameroun, Malawi, Botswana, and Mauritius are among those African countries that have begun the analogue to digital migration process. However the majority of the continent is still to convert to DTT.

Toure’s comments came as the High Court postponed making a judgement on the case brought by three media houses against the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) who claim to have been blocked out of the digital migration process.

Analogue switch-off in Nairobi, which was scheduled for 26 December 2013, has been suspended while the court hears the case.

The new date for the delivery of the High Court judgement is now set for 28 March.