Kathy Gibson reports from AfricaCom, Cape Town – While most African countries look forward to the switch-on of digital terrestrial television (DTT) in the next 18 months or so – although some countries may slip in this deadline – technologies such as mobile may already have overtaken the use case for DTT.
Johan Meuwissen, head OSS/BSS at Ericsson, points out that many countries may miss the June 2015 DTT switch-on deadline, although Mauritius has already made the switch, with Tanzania and Kenya progressing well.
However, he says the level of television penetration in Africa is actually pretty low, with just 27% of households in the continent having television, and 50% of those being pay-TV.
“In the analogue to digital transition, it is a replacement for the existing customer base and it doesn’t address any of the barriers to households having a television in the first place,” he says.
Of course, in Africa, the main barrier to owning a television is lack of electricity, with more than 550-million people on the continent still having no access to electricity.
Then there is the cost of owning and operating a television, Meuwissen says, with a TV, antenna and set top box potentially setting customers back at least $100. “And most of the customer are unbanked, he adds.
“So how will they pay for their TV and services?”
Logistics is another issue, with barriers to getting TVs and set top boxes to the majority of people.
So, while there are huge challenges around switching the 27% of TV households from analogue to digital TV, there is already a huge installed base of mobile users.
“70% of the people in Africa already have access to mobile,” Meuwissen says. “There is a chance that most people’s first time TV experience will be on a mobile device.”
Driving the supposition is the fact that most telecommunications operators have already rolled out 3G networks and there has been an influx of smartphones on to the continent. LTE will also come in the medium-term, which will make broadcast quality TV possible on mobile devices.
Meuwissen points out that Ericsson’s consumer research shows that TV viewing experiences are changing around the world. Although people do still watch “linear” TV, there is a strong trend to use social media while watching TV.
“We also seeing a demand for convenience; people want to watch things where and when they want to.
“We are also seeing the multi-screen take off, where users will start watching one device – say a TV – and continue on another device such as a phone or table.”
In Africa, the trends are likely to be different, but also changing.
“For many Africans their first and only TV experience will be on their mobile phones. What we want to do is help a broader group of people to access TV, either via video on demand or regular TV.”