The broadcasting and telecoms regulator is racing against time to issue mobile-TV licences in time for the Soccer World Cup tournament starting on 11 June 2010. The Independent Communications Authority of SAouth Africa (Icasa) plans to issue licences for the broadcasting of content via cellphones before June.
The BusinessDay reported on 16 April 2010 that the government has made commitments that there would be mobile-TV service during the tournament. Robert Nkuna, an Icasa councillor, said yesterday there were two multiplexes that were set aside for mobile TV.
A multiplex is a technical term for the transmission of several TV channels on one frequency. One multiplex can take up to 12 TV channels, depending on the technology that will be used.
"No company will be allowed to occupy more than 60% of the multiplex," said Nkuna.
MultiChoice, which has been testing the mobile-TV technology by streaming some of its existing pay-TV content to cellphones for the past three years in conjunction with cellphone operators, is planning to apply for a licence. Its parent company, Naspers, said last year it had set aside R98m for mobile TV, which it has already launched in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Namibia.
Interested parties have three weeks to submit their applications to Icasa. Nkuna said mobile TV licences would be offered on "a technology-neutral basis", meaning that operators can use different technologies to provide the services. He said this would "encourage innovation and investment".
The second multiplex will be available after Icasa has opened the market for the second round of pay-TV licences. “Next year, Icasa would undertake a study to determine the market appetite for more pay-TV licences”, Nkuna said.
David Moore, a media analyst at Africa Analysis, said mobile TV was not going to have a huge effect because of the high handset prices. There were also very few handsets in the country capable of receiving the digital video broadcasting handheld (DVB-H) signal, which was used by MultiChoice during its trials.
"Until the number of handsets increase and their price comes down, mobile TV will have a minimal impact. It can be expected that mobile operators wishing to promote mobile TV will invest in a larger handset subsidy to promote uptake initially," he said. //End//
Reagan Malumo
Programme Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
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Windhoek
Namibia
Phone: +264 61 232 975
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