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Feature: Up-country Kenyans ready for TV digital migration as deadline nears

Xinhua, January 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenyans in regions outside Nairobi are gearing up for digital migration as Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) readies to switch off the analogue signal on February 2.

This will be the second phase of the migration, with the first one having been done in Nairobi on December 31.

CAK has a three-phase timetable to migrate the country's citizens to digital broadcasting before the June 2015 deadline set by International Telecommunication Union.

The first phase covered Nairobi and its environs. The second phase goes to bigger towns outside the capital Nairobi which include Mombasa, Malindi, Kisii, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu and Kakamega. The last phase, which will be implemented on March 30, will cover the remaining towns, mostly smaller ones.

CAK Director General Francis Wangusi said the institution embraced the phases approach to ensure smooth transition to digital broadcasting and to give consumers time to acquire set-top- boxes.

However, as it happened in Nairobi, a good number of citizens in towns to be affected in the second switch-off will be cut off from TV viewing due to lack of set-top-boxes.

"I am yet to acquire the set-top-box because I do not know where to buy them in Kakamega," resident Peter Ambani said on phone on Monday.

Ambani said he has to buy the gadget through his son who lives in Nairobi.

"He told me in Nairobi that the free-to-air set-top-boxes are going for 38 U.S. dollars. I told him to buy for me and he promised he will do it end month. I hope they will not switch off before he brings," said the retired civil servant.

His predicament is shared by many residents as the migration deadline fast approaches.

"I have not had time and money to look for the set-top-box. My brother in Nairobi told me they are being sold in major supermarkets but the problem is that this requires me to travel to Kisumu," said Mathew Osodo, a resident of Siaya, who says travelling to Kisumu, over 50km away, will cost him at least 13.2 dollars to and fro.

"As soon as I get my January salary, buying the set-top-box is the first thing that I will do. I do not want to be cut off," said the secondary school teacher.

While majority of up-country Kenyans will buy set-top-boxes this February, a sizeable number of them had already embraced pay TV as companies spread their services.

Some of the residents were pushed to pay TV to receive free-to- air channels, which had poor analogue signals in some areas.

However, some citizens, particularly those in rural areas, are not even aware that they may be switched off from TV viewing come Feb. 2.

Analysts note that many of them are in rural hamlets and have no idea that digital migration is being undertaken.

"These people will definitely be locked out of digital broadcasting. They will only realize something is wrong when they cannot watch TV," said Bernard Mwaso of Edell IT Solution in Nairobi. He added that it may even be difficult for such families to migrate due to poor incomes and lack of information. Endi