Ghana to complete digital television in 2013

Ghana is to complete migration from analogue service to digital television by 2013, ahead of the International Telecommunication Union’s 2015 deadline.

Government has so far invested 2.3million euros in the first phase of the project, which is operational in Accra and Kumasi, to serve some part of southern and the northern sectors of the country. The pilot project has been running faultlessly and continuously for 12 months.

Director-General, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, William Ampem-Darko, made this disclosure in Accra at the launch of the first phase of the migration - which is in collaboration with Next Generation Broadcasting (SMART TV) and will provide 10 channels on GTV’s platform.

The digital TV service, enabled by a Set Top Box (STB), offers a sharper, brighter picture with reduced “ghosting” and interference; the audio signal is much clearer, so users can enjoy improved sound quality.

Meanwhile, most of the television sets currently in peoples’ homes cannot receive digital pictures and viewers will have to purchase STB devices to be able to receive digital signals. And this will come at extra cost to the viewer.

Mr. Ampem-Darko explained that the development will be seen as the moment when the industry, government and other stakeholders showcase their commitment in moving forward digital migration in the country.

He explained that the benefits of digital TV are numerous and far-reaching: better quality TV, more choices and better consumer service.

“Because digital signals take up much less bandwidth than analogue signals, we can broadcast up to 10 television channels in the same bandwidth - giving the potential of many more channels to choose from.

“Ghana will rely on digital transmission as the basis for delivery of e-Government, education, health-care and other socially valuable Information Communication Technology (ICT) services and eventually contribute to connecting the world,” he indicated.

Currently, no African country has completed the migration process - although seven African countries including Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Mauritania and South Africa have published their plans and established committees to manage the migration process.

All around the world, the migration to digital broadcast transmission technology has begun.

Countries already advanced in their migration programmes are France, United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand, whilst in countries like Sweden, Finland and Mauritius, the analogue switch-off has already been completed.

A 24-man National Migration Technical Committee has been established to ensure that Ghana achieves the target.

The Committee has been mandated to make policy recommendations to situate the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting networks within the broader context of strengthening and developing Ghana's Information Infrastructure, and to determine how the transition of existing broadcasting services to digital broadcasting transmission networks and the introduction of new services will facilitate national government priorities, among others.

Ghana has since 2006 been signatory to the Geneva 2006 (GE06) Agreement established during the Regional Radiocommunications Conference (RRC-06) held in Geneva which established the Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting Plan.

The RRC-06 set 17 June 2015 as the deadline for the cessation of international protection for analogue broadcasting transmissions.