Deadline for digital migration likely to be extended – Ursula

The deadline for digital migration is likely to be extended, Minister-Nominee for Communications, Ursula Owusu has revealed.

The migration was expected to take off in June 17, 2015, but was later postponed to September 2017, due to some hitches in the migration process.

Speaking during her vetting at Parliament House on Wednesday, Ursula Owusu said the deadline might be extended further due to some exigencies that the Ministry is currently dealing with.

“I'm not sure about the switch over taking place in the next few weeks. The original time-table for migration was June 2015, it's been missed. The deadline I inherited was September 2017, I'm still receiving briefings on it and looking at the state of infrastructure, it may be necessary to extend the deadline, I don't know. Sitting here right now, I cannot tell you because we are still having discussions on that. “

“…My priority now is looking for the financing to power the network that has been the infrastructure put in place, and then subsequent to that, we can think about looking for additional funding for the set-up boxes which will enable those who have analog TV sets watch the new digital transmission; so once we solve all these problems, then we can stick to the September 2017 timeline, but if need be, we may have to extend it.”

Ghana missed the initial June 2015 deadline set under the Geneva 2006 agreement of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), after delays in accessing funding for the project.

The then Minister of Communications, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, who announced this after receiving an evaluation report from bidders for the deployment of digital broadcasting infrastructure in the country, expressed regret that the country could not meet the deadline due to delays in accessing funding for the project.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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