The government intends to ban the importation of digital television decoders currently in the market starting January 1, 2018.
According to a statement uploaded on the Communication Authority’s website, the importation of terrestrial and cable television decoders will not be permitted from next year.
“The importation into Kenya of cable or satellite receivers/decoders that do not comply with the said digital video broadcasting, second generation terrestrial or satellite specifications shall not be permitted from January 1, 2018,” the statement read in part.
Current decoder stocks that are already being used in the country but do not comply with the new standards will eventually be switched off.
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However, all hope is not lost since the ban will see the introduction of decoders that allow internet connectivity through an ethernet port that is not available in the current decoders.
This port will offer internet television and video on demand services connected to an internet point of presence to decode digital television signals from an internet bundled service that include television services.
These changes mean that in the future, subscribers to the service will need an internet connection to access television programmes.
The communication authority moved to standardize the current decoders by allowing them to have both the terrestrial port and the ethernet port for internet television since these changes cannot be accomplished at once.
This is a blessing in disguise since users who are unable to afford internet bundles will access television programmes via the terrestrial port which, as it is now, has a limited number of channels.
These changes come barely three years since the country had to deal with the antagonistic migration from analogue to digital television.
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