47 African countries to deploy digital TV ahead 2015 deadline

Frequency coordination negotiations have succeeded in setting up the mechanism to deploy digital television as 47 Sub-Saharan African countries have agreed on frequency coordination for digital switch-over in 2015

Accordingly, the consolidation of national plans to implement the digital switchover in the African region is in conformity with the deadlines of June 2015 set in 2006 by ITU’s Regional Radiocommunication conference , which adopted the GE06 TV Plan.

This landmark also makes Africa the first region to be in a position in 2015 to allocate bandwidth freed up by the transition to digital television , the so-called ‘digital dividend’ to the mobile service for both the 700 MHz and 800 MHz bands.

The Director of ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau, Mr François Rancy, who announced this at the just concluded final frequency coordination meeting held in Nairobi last July following the deadline of 31 August set for notifications. Said that sub-Saharan African countries have begun submitting official modifications to the GE06 Plan.

“The objective was to enable African countries to allocate the digital dividend to mobile services in the band 694-862 MHz, as a regionally harmonized implementation of the decisions taken at the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2012.

“This objective was reached by re-planning the spectrum requirements of television broadcasting in the 470-694 MHz frequency band.”, he explained.

At the meeting, the ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré expressed his appreciation to the high level of cooperation extended to the process by African Telecommunications Union (ATU) and its Secretary-General, Mr Abdoulkarim Soumaila.

The meeting in Nairobi organized jointly by ITU and the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) and hosted by the Communications Commission of Kenya.