Minister dismayed at local content in STBs
18 July 2018
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The Department of Communications issued a statement in which the communications minister, Nomvula Mokonyane, expressed her concern about the lack of adherence to the 30% local content manufacturing rule on the part of some suppliers who manufacture government’s subsidised set-top boxes (STB) which are meant to enable migration from analog to digital television services.
The statement came in response to an ITWeb article which the minister claimed quoted her erroneously as saying that all contracted local manufacturers of government set-top boxes import decoders from abroad. The statement went on to say that “the Department of Communications has learnt that some local manufacturers contracted by state-owned-entity Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) to manufacture these decoders are procuring non-compliant devices abroad and importing them into country.
“This means that they are in fact contravening the local content quota prescription, which requires them to ensure that at least 30% of all decoder components are produced locally. This undermines government’s efforts to ensure that this project contributes towards boosting the country’s electronics manufacturing sector to stimulate job creation in the sector. Additionally, many of these imported decoders are found to be defective and not compliant with the local standards framework set by the SA Bureau of Standards. This has resulted in decoder recipients having to return them to government’s distribution agent – the SA Post Office.”
There are 27 manufacturing firms contracted by USAASA to produce decoders and antennas for government’s broadcasting digital migration project, at a cost of R4,5 billion. The minister also expressed concern about the cost per unit – government is currently paying R1700 per manufacturing of a single STB, including installation. She described these costs as unsustainable for government and called on public-private partnerships for help in implementing the broadcasting digital migration project.
The department is currently reviewing the implementation plan and the model around the broadcasting digital migration project; this process is set be concluded in the very near future.
For more information visit www.doc.gov.za
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