Digital switch pushed to June next year

Last Updated 13 years ago by Kenya Engineer

The deadline for the digital migration has been moved again to June next year. This comes barely a week after the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) launched an awareness campaign to sensitize the public on the planned switch off of the analogue TV broadcasting.

The migration from analogue to digital broadcasting is a worldwide initiative that was agreed upon in the Regional Radio Communications Conference in 2006.Kenya is behind schedule owing to continued dispute between the government and consumer federations.

The latest set deadline was 13th December this year where the capital, Nairobi, was the first to embrace the migration. According to the phased switch-off plan, residents of metropolitan Nairobi, from the Central Business District through its suburbs and outlaying satellite areas of Kiambu, Ngong, Ongata Rongai, Kitengela, Isinya, Kajiado, Athi River, parts of Machakos, Thika and Githunguri were to be the first to switch over to digital TV broadcasting services.

Subsequently, analogue signals would then go off air in Mombasa, Malindi, Nyeri, Meru, Kisumu, Webuye, Kisii, Nakuru and Eldoret on March 30 next year. All the other areas across the country were to be switched off on 30th June 2014 one year before the global deadline of June 17, 2015.