GOVT WARNS MEDIA HOUSES OVER DIGITAL MIGRATION POLICY

Sat, 16 Sep 2017 11:31:41 +0000

By Oscar Malipenga

GOVERNMENT will not hesitate to bring to book any erring public and private media institution that will not abide by the law with regards to Digital Migration, chief government spokesperson Kampamba Mulenga has warned.

And Information permanent secretary Godfrey Malama said it was extremely expensive for government to continue with dual transmission hence its decision to migrate to digital effective October 1.

Ms Mulenga said alongside the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and the Zambia Information Communication and Technology Authority (ZICTA), government expected all players in the public and private sector to abide by the regulations set out by the Digital Migration Policy.

Giving an update on the digital TV migration process, Ms Mulenga explained that subscription had been segmented as Nova K30 for 30 channels, Basic K59 for 43 channels, and Classic K89 for 56 channels.

She said government has secured over 500, 000 decoders for national distribution in the past months.

She however explained that if a subscriber was switched off due to non-payment of subscription fees, they would be able to watch the public broadcaster ZNBC TV1 and Parliament TV free of charge.

“Government wants all its citizens to have access to digital TV, leaving no family behind and my ministry from time to time will continue to update the nation when more districts are connected to digital TV signal.

“Currently, in Central province; Mumbwa and Mkushi have been connected to digital TV transmission, while in Eastern province; Chama, Mfuwe, Mambwe, Chadiza, Katete, Sinda, Petauke and Nyimba are under test transmission,” she said.

Ms Mulenga said Serenje, Samfya and Mwense were also currently under test transmission.

She said other towns would to be connected as equipment was distributed and installed.

“This is time for Zambia to shine and so it is time to pull up our socks and contribute to showcasing Zambia’s best talent and best stories through the digital TV platform,” Ms Mulenga said.