[caption id="attachment_4479" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Analogue TV set (Image: Tv Throng)"][/caption]

From July 2012, there will be no more analogue TV sets sold in the shops in Kenya. That is good news. The government has imposed a ban on importation of analogue TV sets beginning July. This move could probably deny thousands of households access to TV programs due to the cost involved.

The cost of migrating from analogue to digital is so high that close to 16million Kenyans with analogue TV sets could be left out due to the cost of migration.

A set-top box costs between Sh5,000 and Sh10,000 while a TV set with in-built digital signal convertors retails at between Sh250,000 and Sh300,000.

Kenyans will be receiving transmission via digital signal. Industry regulator Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) say that the new technology offers better picture and sound quality, 50 per cent more programme channels on one TV frequency and a larger coverage area by TV transmission station.

[caption id="attachment_4480" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Digital TV Menu (Image: Tech-2-Date)"][/caption]

That is all very welcome. However, ever since the switch to this new technology started in 2009, it has not been all rosy for Kenyans. First, analogue TV owners were required to acquire converter boxes called Digital Video Broadcasting — Terrestrial version 1(DVB-T1). The switch suffered a blow when the government made an  impromptu ban of DVB-T1 set-top boxes that were already on sale . This slowed down uptake of the technology.

Currently the new technology being adopted is the DVB-T2 and CCK says about four million analogue TV sets would require connection to the new technology. A switch to the new technology meant that other than consumers buying the new gadget, licensed digital signal distribution firms Signet and China’s Pan African Network had to make their platforms compatible with DVB-T2 technology.