Parliamentary committee presents the need to speed up the pace on digital migration
0n 1 July 2010, the Zambian Parliamentary Committee on Information and Broadcasting presented a report on digital migration to Parliament in which it recommended the need for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services to urgently put in place measures to ensure smooth transition from analogue to digital broadcasting.

Presenting the report, chairperson for the committee Mwansa Kapeya said there was need for the Ministry of Information to adequately prepare for the migration because very little preparation had been made towards the same while the deadline date was only five years away.
 
Kapeya cited the inadequate sensitization of the citizens concerning the migration, lack of a budgetary allocation to the process, the lack of a mechanism to control the entry of electronic goods that would become obsolete after 2015 and a lack of a taskforce to handle the issues. The committee said that taskforce has only existed on paper.
 
He urged the government to either weave tax on set top boxes (STBs) or subsidise them in order for the majority of poor Zambians who live on less than a dollar a day to have access to information when digital migration switchover took place in 2015. He added that the STBs were only a stop-gap measure because eventually the citizens would need to purchase digital broadcasting radio and television sets.
 
Kapeya expressed concern that Zambia could become a dumping ground for electronic goods that would soon become obsolete. “Uncontrolled dumping of electronic waste resulting from the migration, which will render some technology obsolete will result in environmental degradation.” He said.
 
He recommended the need for the Ministry of Information to collaborate with other ministries and government environmental wings to deal with the waste that would result from the same.
 
Kapeya said there was need to strengthen the capacity of the Zambia Bureau of Standards and the Zambia Consumer Association for them to regulate the flow of fake television sets and other devices using analogue technology.
 
The committee compiled its report after listening to submissions from media associations that included MISA Zambia and undertaking a study tour. //End//

Reagan Malumo
Programme Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
21 Johann Albrecht St
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek
Namibia
Phone: +264 61 232 975
Fax: +264 61 248 016
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