Kenyan digital TV migration suffers funding shortfall

Lack of funds is hampering Kenya's migration from analogue to digital TV in 2012, Business Daily reported. It said the government had allocated KES 650 million to the project while the full switch, due to start in seven months, requires KES 3 billion. The Communications Council of Kenya (CCK) said the country has prioritised next year's general election, which is diverting attention from digital migration. Limited fiscal allocation for migration infrastructure rollout has delayed the process, Rosemary Mwangi, an officer at CCK's digital wing secretariat, told Business Daily. She said the scheme was allocated KES 250 million in the supplementary budget of 2010/2011 and another KES 400 million in the 2011/2012 budget. The total budget is supposed to be utilised for building towers, upgrading equipment and consumer education. The project will see all television users migrate to DVBT-2 signal network as opposed to the current DVB-T platform. It will enable the roll-out of multiplex and permit access to broadcasting services on PCs, laptops, car receivers and more. CCK said the foremost challenge is the inability to launch public awareness programmes. Kenyans are still buying analogue TV sets as well as set-top boxes that will become obsolete after the switch.