The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe launched its public awareness programme on digital migration at the Jameson hotel yesterday.
Sections of society had been complaining that the government was not doing enough to inform citizens about the impending digital migration programme and whether Zimbabwe would meet the June deadline.

BAZ was adamant that the June deadline would be met. One of the issues that threatened to derail the programme was funding where the government was faced with either getting funding from the fiscus,its operations or borrowing.

They revealed that the government eventually settled for self-funding by inviting a tender for Datacasting license which was snapped up by Netone for $200 million. This means this process will be self funding.

There are concerns on whether the resulting monopoly by the awarding of only one license to a single player will not cause problems associated with monopolies such as overcharging in future.

The regulatory body revealed that the government had conducted feasibility studies with Huawei and had settled to implement with the same company . A contract was duly signed on 25 February 2015.The deal is reportedly worth $125 million.

The government is therefore in a strong position to finance this project and ensure its implementation in the expected time.
However there are other costs associated with informing and educating the public. Some members of the public will need to buy receivers that are compatible with the new technology.

The switch to digital technology will also present new economic opportunities for content producers. More jobs are expected to be created as more content producers emerge. Better quality content also means that local content producers are able to compete internationally.

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