Now Botswana go for Japan-Brazil digital std

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Monday March 4, 2013 00:00

Now ahead of the SADC summit scheduled for March 15, Brazil has announced that Botswana has decided to opt for the Japanese-Brazil digital tv standard that will rival the European DVB standard already selected by South Africa and a number of SADC countries.

In 2010 SADC countries except Botswana decided to opt for the European standard for their digital migration.However, on Thursday Brazil announced that the situation in the SADC region is now favourable, mentioning that besides Botswana, there is a strong possibility that Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and  DR Congo can change from the European digital standard, DVB to  japan-Brazil's ISDB. According to a Brazilian website, SADC countries are now in a position to dump the Europeans because they have failed to live up to their promises.

Brazil is now confident that this new development could unlock a new market for its software, peripherals and components industry. According to Brazil, Botswana's decision to opt for the ISDB is a result of more than two years of lobbying by the Brazilian and Japanese governments.

Botswana has been promised to be the launching pad of this Brazil-Japan digital migration standard. In 2010 Botswana hosted the first conference for SADC members to introduce and market the ISDB digital migration standard. The conference was held at the mass media complex.

Botswana has been running tests on the Japanese technology since 2010. Botswana has set January 31, 2015 as its deadline for the switchover, while the SADC region has programmed it for 2013.  The ISDB standard is also used in Argentina, Peru, Chile and Venezuela, Brazil, Japan, among others.