Nairobi to Start in Kenya’s Digital Transition

Kenya’s digital migration will begin with Nairobi where all analog signals will be switched off by 31^st December as a trial test before being rolled out to the other towns in the country.

The Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) has urged Kenyans living in Nairobi to buy a set top box before the end of the year in order to enjoy television programming.

The digital migration in the country is targeted at four million analogue viewers.

CCK has licensed over 20 players of digital decoders to sell decoders, which are currently retailing between Sh. 2,000 and Sh. 5,000. Local channels are also ready for switch with over 20 currently being available on the digital TV platform, free of charge.

The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation’s signet service offers free to air service with 18 new channels while 8 others are expected to be activated this December. Some of these channels are airing in vernacular.

It’s expected by June 2013 the whole country will have shifted to digital broadcasting, ahead of the global deadline of 2015.

Some of the advantages of Digital TV over its Analogue counterpart include, capability to send twice as much information in the same amount of bandwidth as analogue TV, resulting in a high quality picture and sound; and better reception as Digital TV are not subjective to weather patterns such as rain or cloudy skies.