South African broadcasters are gearing up for their digital signals to go up by Nov. 1, 2008, kicking off a three-year overlap with their the analog signals--which will be shut down on Nov. 1, 2011.
Meanwhile, Sentech intends to launch at least one HD satellite channel in time for coverage of the 2010 Soccer World Cup for South African DBS viewers, according to the country's Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri.
The government official also told the General Assembly last week in a debate over budget issues that Sentech also plans to build a second teleport to provide more capacity, as needed, for the globally televised series of matches to be held in South Africa in three years.
Sentech, licensed as a common carrier for broadcasting in South Africa, currently is on schedule to meet the government's goal of providing digital terrestrial coverage to at least 80 percent of South African homes by 2010, with as much as possible in HD, according to the South African Press Association.
