South Africa to Adopt DVB-T2


Following the recommendation by the South African Development Community (SADC) for the region to adopt DVB-T2, South Africa has confirmed its intention to implement the second generation DVB digital terrestrial standard.

The announcement was made at a press conference by the Communications Minister Radhakrishna Padayachie in Midrand, South Africa. The minister also stated that the government was committed to analogue switch-off by the end of 2013.

“The announcement of the decision by South Africa ends the uncertainty over which digital standard the country would implement,” said Phil Laven, DVB’s Chairman, who was closely involved in the campaign to promote DVB over the competing Brazilian version of the Japanese ISDB-T standard.

This announcement brings the number of countries that have adopted DVB-T2 to 21, with other countries undergoing trials. DVB-T2 offers higher efficiency, robustness and flexibility than the established DVB-T standard, through the use of the latest modulation and coding techniques.