In what could prove to be a highly significant development for mobile operators, a number of South Africa’s broadcasters have agreed to the newest deadline to vacate the so-called ‘digital dividend’ bands.

Communications minister Mondli Gungubele has said that the date to complete the migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television is now 31 December 2024. Two previous deadlines were not met by his predecessor, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.

As the TechCentral website points out, this time the minister has the backing of a number of broadcasters.

Gungubele published a notice in the Government Gazette this week saying all analogue broadcasters using bands above 694MHz must vacate those frequencies by no later than 31 July.

This is important for mobile operators which, in theory, were given access to those frequency bands during last year’s spectrum auctions but still can’t make full use of the spectrum.

Those broadcasters occupying the bands above 694MHz must move to lower frequencies at the end of July. All remaining analogue broadcasting services should temporarily be accommodated in lower frequencies, which seems to be acceptable to big broadcasters SABC and e.tv. Digital broadcasting services operating above 694MHz must go to frequencies below 694MHz to free up the 694-862Mhz frequency bands.

All analogue signals are to be switched off no later than 31 December 2024, by which time, it is hoped, the millions of households now relying on analogue broadcasts will have converted to digital services.

As we mentioned in February 2021, like a number of countries in Africa, South Africa missed the original deadline set by the International Telecommunication Union for completion of the switchover process, which was meant to happen in June 2015.

State-owned service provider Angola Telecom has this week announced the launch of a new service called Conecta Angola, whose aim is to reach the most remote areas of the country where, previously, none of the country’s mobile operators had been active.

The Conecta Angola project was formally unveiled at the opening of Angotic 2023 in Luanda, a three-day event held from 12 to 14 June, which acts as a platform for discussing and addressing challenges related to ICT. It was attended by a number of top-level government officials.

The initiative has a strong social angle, notably targeting communities where schools, hospitals and municipal administrations have limited access to operators, to create more digital inclusion.

The sales director of Angola Telecom, Eusébio Santos, suggested that the first phase of the project would involve taking the service to previously internet-excluded populations. In a second phase of the project, he said, « we will be able to start thinking about how to integrate small and medium-sized companies » that operate in these areas.

He also noted that a pilot project is already underway in Bela Vista, in the province of Bié , where students and other users at the local Academic Centre of Excellence can use new internet facilities free of charge.

Conecta Angola developed from a partnership between Infrasat, a provider of satellite communications and backhauling solutions and owner of the only low-cost rural comunications network, and the country’s National Space Programme Management Office (GGPEN).

Indeed, according to TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, Angola Telecom has said that the aim of connecting some of the most remote areas of the country with free internet services will be supported by the Angosat-2 communications satellite. 

However, the cost of rollout, not to mention a timescale, do not appear to have been revealed.

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This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Josh Tsui CEO of Floship

Manufacturers, businesses, and all organizations in the telecom supply chain have had to constantly develop groundbreaking solutions to maintain the production of high-quality goods due to rising costs and limited access to raw materials, especially since the onset of the pandemic. As a result, traditional linear supply chain strategies have given way to new ones that offer optimized operation flow, green options, and a smooth delivery experience with reduced cost. A new kind of supply chain known as circular supply chain has begun to benefit … [visit site to read more]

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Startup Hello Space, described as Turkey’s first commercial ‘pocketqube’ satellite venture, has launched what it describes as the world’s tiniest satellite – with the help of SpaceX.

Hello Space aims to send a pocketqube constellation into space and offer uninterrupted end-to-end IoT data services from space to businesses in agriculture, logistics, energy industries, and many more.

Istanbul, the first Hello Space, test pocketqube, with dimensions of 5cm x 5cm x 5cm, was launched into space this week from California, with the SpaceX Falcon-9 Transporter-8 mission.

Established in May 2022, Hello Space completed software and hardware production followed by a space launch in under 13 months. Concurrent with the pocketqube satellite production process, the Hello Space Ground Station was built to serve as the management and control center for the pocketqube satellite constellation.

Through its advanced narrowband data communication technology, Hello Space will provide continuous and reliable data services globally by providing coverage from space. Hello Space will be able to offer IoT services, even in remote areas with low population density and uncovered regions such as oceans and remote but significant agricultural lands.

If everything goes to plan, the services offered will include the provision of location data from containers shipped in the ocean, humidity data from remote agricultural lands, and end-to-end temperature data in long-distance cold-chain food logistics. Consistent, accurate data from space will improve the efficiency of businesses, says Hello Space.

Hello Space says is now getting ready for the deployment of four new test pocketqube satellites, planned to be launched in October 2023.