Digital Terrestrial Television Committee presents report

A five-member committee tasked to evaluate and roll out a plan to begin the process of Ghana’s migration from analogue television broadcasting to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) has submitted its report to the Ministry of Communications.

Although the content of the report was not disclosed to the media, the Chairman of the committee, Dr Abdul Baasit Aziz Bamba, said it contained the detailed procedure for the selection of vendors who applied for the vacant position to supply and install a reliable energy-efficient and cost-effective DTT Network Solution.

This follows the abrogation of the initial contract with Chinese firm, Star Communication Network Technology Company Limited.

Presenting the report to Dr Omane-Boamah, the Minister of Communications, Dr Bamba said the report also contained the technical and financial proposals of more than 10 companies.

Background

Earlier this year, the National Communications Authority (NCA) stated that Ghana was likely to miss the global deadline to migrate from analogue television broadcasting to DTT.

The global deadline is June 17, 2015, and Ghana is expected to comply because it is a signatory to the Geneva 2006 agreement.

Geneva 2006 was a conference organised by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to agree on and plan television frequencies for DTT broadcasting in Europe, Africa and parts of the Middle East.

Vendors 

According to Dr Bamba, the evaluation team vetted all the companies and asked them to provide a detailed and feasible plan on Ghana’s migration.

“All the companies provided us with their technical and financial proposal on how they intended to ensure Ghana’s migration,” he said.

Ministry’s commitment

Dr Omane-Boamah, after receiving the report, said efforts were being made to ensure that Ghana could speed up the process for the digital migration by the close of February 2016.